The Caliph's Revenge

Source:
The International Relations and Security Network
Date of source:
30 Sep 2015

This article was originally published by the Middle East Institute on 9 September 2015. "While the secular revolutions of the 20th century built up the Middle East’s institutions and economies, they also gravely wounded moderate religious sensibilities. It’s no surprise then, argues Paul Salem, that the region is now in the grip of a ferocious and unhinged religious backlash."

"The eminent French-Lebanese thinker and novelist Amin Maalouf also takes up this theme in his book Disordered World: Setting a New Course for the Twenty-first Century. Although a confirmed secularist of Lebanese Christian origins like myself, he points out the grave civilizational costs of the decline of the caliphate after the Abbasid period ended in the thirteenth century, and the risks inherent to the absence of an established and recognized religious authority within mainstream Islam today." Author Dr. Paul Salem is a vice president of the Middle East Institute leading an initiative on Arab transitions.

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