opinion The on-going conflict between radical Islam and the West cannot be merely seen from the perspective of a clash between two civilisations as attested by Samuel P Huntington.

While Huntington merely exposed the deep-seated cultural differences between different civilisations, he however failed to take note that the present-day hostility and conflict seems not be between non-Western and Western civilisation, but between radical Islam and the modernisation imperative of the West.

Not all non-Western cultures are prone to defy the West, but only radical Islam - a term used by Noam Chomsky - that we find a direct challenge to the West in general and towards the United States in particular.

Huntington, however, in driving home his thesis about civilisation conflicts (those that have overtaken the ideological ones) does not deal with the question as to why there is much opposition to Western materialism from the Islamic radical forces.

It is not that other non-Islamic forces have not resisted Western modernisation, but such resistance has fallen way behind in the last few decades. Before the rise of Islamic radicalism, it was the ideology of socialism that presented a major challenge to Western imposition and domination.

But now that that challenge has gone, the vacuum seems to be filled by Islamic radical forces. It would be a truism to note that to date, no other forms of non-Western discourses other than Islam seem to be posing a direct challenge to modernisation as represented in the Western model.

Insensitive aping

It would not be too accurate to state that what is represented by Islam and by the West are mutually exclusive. Far from it. In fact, it is the way and manner in which certain Islamic countries have sought to integrate themselves with the Western notion of development that seems to be the main problem.

In other words, not all sections of the Islamic community are at odd with the West; only a few sections, such as those alienated from the policies and dictates of those in power. These sections have sought to redefine and articulate Islam in an aggressive manner to oppose the West, particularly in its modernisation scheme.

Needless to remark, locating the source of resistance in Islam has been preceded by a number of developments. First, the blind and insensitive aping of the West by certain sections of the Muslim community, particularly those who have access to political and economic power, have alienated certain segments of the Muslim intelligentsia.

Second, the failure on the part of the United States to solve problems of nationality of groups like the Palestinians, Kashmiris, Bosnians and others has merely endorsed the perception that the West has no regard for Muslims.

Third, political management and modernisation of Muslim societies in accordance with the Western perspective have merely aggravated problems of political participation and lack of democracy while exacerbating economic and social disparities.

Fourth, the failure of the Muslim political elite to defend and strengthen Islam against Western hegemony only caused certain sections of the Muslim community to re-invent Islam as a force of resistance and not one of accommodation. This was precisely what the Taliban and the al-Qaeda organisations tried to do - redefine and re-articulate Islam as weapon of resistance.

Past nostalgia

The recent war against radical Islam launched by the United States and its allies merely represents a historical continuity, albeit under different political circumstances and the use of new ways, to defeat all those who sought to defy the dominant world system supported by the major powers.

Whether radical Islam would be crushed or whether they will be some other forms of opposition remains to be seen. But one thing is sure - given the benefit of past experience and given the political and economic superiority of the West and some of its leading powers, radical Islam might be declining as a source of resistance.

Rather than offering a real challenge or alternative, radical Islam merely represents a reaction to the West. Its religious alternative seems to be more of nostalgia for the past, for the great days of Islam. It does not rather provide a real political and economic challenge to the West, once tentatively provided by the socialist ideology.

It is not that central elements of the socialist ideology are dead but merely that some so-called socialist experiments have collapsed under the weight of internal problems, issues of distribution and more importantly, because they aped capitalist countries on some matters.

The death of radical Islam as source of resistance should not lull us into naively believing that we have no choice but to put up with the juggernaut of neo-liberal globalisation, another name for Western-sponsored modernisation.

All is not well with globalisation as there are too many contradictions, too many mistakes and too many victims. Such a sorry state of affairs might spawn new ideas, new plans, and new challenges to the West.

Death of radical Islam, despite its reactionary nature, is merely another step in the direction towards reconstituting and reformulating a more effective strategy to deal with the Western world order.

P RAMASAMY is a professor of political economy at the Political Science Department, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia and has academic interests in Malaysian politics and labour. He has written quite extensively and is currently focusing on conflict management in Sri Lanka.