Geopolitical Contest over ‘Moderate Islam’
The past few decades—since 9/11 in particular—have seen the increasing
prominence of ‘moderate Islam’ in the public sphere. But who gets to define
what this term means? How are these different definitions projected to wider
Muslim, and non-Muslim, audiences? And what are the political implications of
these varied versions of ‘moderate Islam,’ whether locally or internationally?
In this episode, we focus on three major players in the geopolitical
competition to define ‘moderate Islam,’ namely Saudi Arabia, the United Arab
Emirates, and Indonesia, while also bringing in Qatar, Turkey, and Iran. By
paying special attention to Indonesia—and its huge civil society organization
called Nahdlatul Ulama—we see how Asian Muslims are becoming increasingly
important arbiters of Islam for the twenty-first century.
Nile Green talks to James M. Dorsey, author of The Battle for the Soul
of Islam: Defining the Muslim Faith in the 21st Century (Palgrave
Macmillan, 2024).
Please click here to listen to the podcast.
I hope you enjoy this free episode of The Turbulent World. No doubt, you
will have noticed that The Turbulent World has no sponsors and no advertisers.
This guarantees the column and podcast’s independence. Instead, The Turbulent
World depends on the support of its readers and listeners to cover the cost of
producing the column and podcast. You can contribute by clicking on the
subscription button at https://jamesmdorsey.substack.com,
and choosing one of the subscription options.
Comments
Post a Comment