Når religionen blir truet : årsaker til og konsekvenser av islamistiske gruppers sikkerhetisering av religion

Abstract

International terrorism is seen as the main threat to international security today, at least in the US. In this report it is argued that religion is the main driving force for the people behind what normally is called “international terrorism”. Extremist or fundamentalist islamist groups, see Islam - as they define it - as threatened by western values and American power. The main Muslim states, like Saudi Arabia, are not defending the religion, but cooperate with America. These Islamist groups therefore see it as their duty to defend their religion with all means, including terrorist attacks against civilians. In the vocabulary of the Copenhagen School of International Relations, these groups have “securitized” religion for themselves, because of the failure of Muslim states to do so. In the report it is also argued that the process of “securitizing” an item is closely parallel to the debate about jihad, or “Holy War” inside the Muslim world. Because the worldview and perceptions of politics in these religiously inspired groups are so different from those in the western world, a meeting of minds leading to compromises is difficult to envisage. The Western world simply cannot accept the demand of these extremists. The main problem therefore to simultaneously wage a war against terrorism destroying the terrorist cells while avoiding giving them more sympathy and support in the Muslim world. Therefore the war on terrorism can not be isolated from other political problems in the Middle East.