Global Islamism: The Threat to Western Civilization

Date of Graduation

Summer 2007

Degree

Master of Science in Defense and Strategic Studies

Department

Defense and Strategic Studies

Committee Chair

Christopher Harmon

Abstract

The attacks on September 11, 2001 underscored the lack of priority given to Islamic fundamentalism. While the United States and the rest of the Western countries mobilized after this attack to fight against international terrorism, not a great deal of attention was given to the fundamentalists, or Islamists, that reject the use of violence but still work within the political process. Terrorists like al-Qa'ida, use revolutionary tactics like terrorism as a means to accomplish their goals whereas the Islamists working in the West use evolutionary tactics by taking advantage of the Muslim communities to spread their radical ideology, engage in political infiltrations, and utilize propaganda to conceal their intentions of governmental takeover. Western officials have been in a state of denial regarding the Islamist movement for decades. These groups working in the West have been successful in silencing all of their critics including other Muslim groups who advocate for complete secular government. These Islamist groups claim to represent all Muslims but based on their associations with the Muslim Brotherhood and the amounts of Wahhabi funding they receive, they are loyal only to the Islamic fundamentalist movement to infiltrate Western civilization as a means to destroy it, implement their brand of Islamic law, and establish their worldwide Islamic fundamentalist movement to infiltrate Western civilization as a means to destroy it, implement their brand of Islamic law, and establish their worldwide Islamic kingdom.

Keywords

Islamism, Muslim, fundamentalism, politics, Shari'a

Subject Categories

Defense and Security Studies

Copyright

© Nicholas Longley Van Zandt

Citation-only

Dissertation/Thesis

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