In what way is there a civilization conflict between Islam and the West?

When discussing the conflict between these so called 'civilisations' we must be careful not to simplify the issue at hand. Samuel Huntington's thesis does run the risk of doing so, in that by grouping all followers of Islam together in one 'civilisation' we neglect the fact that Islam is a universal entity and that it has several faces. Is Islam a cultural identity? A religious identity? A political identity? 

Considering this is a blog post and not a dissertation we'll focus on one particular strand of Islam- the radical minority. And it is a minority considering a Gallup poll found the “radical” group represents about 7% of the total population across the 10 countries included in the study, ranging from a high of 26% in Egypt to a low of 1% in Morocco. 

So what is radical Islam? Radical Islam can be defined as a politico-religious ideology (although radicals themselves would disagree with this definition as they see their belief as a holistic moral system). Radical Islam does not have one established manifesto that lays out their beliefs, as unsurprisingly, there are a vast number of factions. Yet there are some common beliefs that Radicals generally seem to identify with, these include a  reconstruction of society in line with the religious principles of Islam, a rejection of the modern state in favour of an Islamic state where religious authority (usually Shari'a law) surpasses political authority. Finally, radicals view the 'West' and it's values as corrupt and justifying some kind of 'jihad' against them. However, again we must be careful when discussing this 'jihad' as it literally means 'struggle' and usually refers to an inner struggle Muslims face in rejecting western values. In other words, this 'struggle' is exercised in various ways, not necessarily confined to acts of terror. The revival of fundamentalist Islam can be traced back to the 1920s (particularly the founding of the Muslim Brotherhood in 1928) yet the most signifcant development was in the late 1970s with Ayatollah Khomeini coming to power and Iran declaring itself as an Islamic Republic. Since then we have seen the growth of the Mujahadeen, from which the Taliban developed, and since the 1990s the emergence of jihadi groups- such as Al Qaeda and so called 'Islamic state'. 

What about the 'West'? As with Islam, it is impossible to group all 'westerners' into one civilisation- few would suggest Donald Trump and Jeremy Corbyn share the same identity and yet they are, supposedly, of the same civilisation. The 'West' can be defined in that we do seem to share a common set of beliefs, such as democracy, human rights, and neo-liberal economics to an extent. In terms of religion, the 'West' is rooted in Christianity, but many would argue we have since become more secular. 

While the west is not radical in the sense that it commits acts of terror, we are 'radical' in the way in which we force our values onto the world. For instance, the age old debate on whether we should universally promote democracy in the name of the democratic peace thesis. Are women's rights a universal concept or an aspect of western culture? The spread of distinctly American vales such as commodity fetishism and  consumer capitalism can be viewed as a form of 'domination'. The same way in which western nationalists argue Shari'a law is an attempt by Islamists to take over and dominate. Furthermore, the college promotes 'British Values' which we are told are the right way to behave, and that these values should be adopted by all. While they are perhaps not enforced as strictly as the values of radical Islam are (I think it's unlikely Blake would behead one of us if we said we didn't like fish and chips) the fact remains that these values are imposed upon us and we are expected to agree with them, in turn disagreeing and conflicting with any other values, like those of Islam. 

Therefore, the conflict lies within our individual mindsets. We need to be prepared to criticize our own way of life, there are fundamental problems with western values, as there is with radical Islamic values. Huntington's thesis has given us an excuse to rally behind the facade of a 'civilisation', which Osama Bin Laden, and later the Bush administration, both used to their advantage to create the 'war' between Islam and the West.  

Bibliography/further reading

• The Battle for Hearts and Minds: Moderate vs. Extremist Views in the Muslim World
• Clash of Civilizations (BBC Radio 3, 2013)