Interview by Maria Sidelnikova, the editor-in-chief of Vestnik Kavkaza
The tenth International Muslims Forum “Mission of Religion and Responsibility of its Followers to Modern Challenges” came to an end in Moscow. Vitaly Naumkin, the director of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, told Vestnik Kavkaza about the forum and prospects for developments in the Islamic world.
- Are such events as the Muslim forum important for Russia?
- In the current situation the forum is exclusively important. First of all, when some global powers try to impose their civilizational models on other states, nations, societies, to order and subordinate them, the task of Muslims in Russia and Eurasia is to unite with Muslims of other countries and resist the pressure.
The second task is the response to extremist and terrorist organizations. They do not have a religion. Based in the Middle East, it threatens our brothers in that region and ourselves. Today, unification on the basis of spirituality, adherence to enlightened conservatism, our values that are widely discussed, will allow us to become closer on this ground. Muslims are able to help Russia to withstand, preserve its identity, through values and resist the challenges which we are facing today.
- What is your view on the processes in the Middle East?
- Extreme instability, chaos, collapse of states (Libya collapsed due to direct foreign interference, overthrow of the regime under the slogan of democracy and pseudovalues), weapons proliferation, the rise of extremism as a result of wars, the war in Iraq and the unsettled Palestinian conflict lead to activation of foreign forces which try to stir up inter-religious conflicts inside Islam, Islamophobia, Christianophobia.
Today we can see an outflow of Christians from the Middle East. It concerns us very much, as we are a Christian country first of all, but also we are a Muslim country. The Middle East is a source of threats, on the one hand, but on the other hand, the threats enable us to build a bridge between people and states, trying to create an alternative to the imaginary individualistic order which leads to the domination of foreign forces in the region.
- One of the destabilizing factors in the Middle East is the terrorist organization Islamic State. Who stands behind it?
- There are many conspiracy theories which explain ISIS through some governance of global power centers only. Of course there is such an element, but it cannot explain all the extremism and terrorism. Yesterday it was al-Qaeda; today it is ISIS; tomorrow it will be something else.
ISIS is fed by manipulators who try to use it in their geopolitical schemes, interests; at the same time it is fed by the wave of extremism, radicalism, which appears as an extreme protest against injustice which exists in the world, against attempts to ruin the traditional life order in the Middle East. Unfortunately, sometimes the energy of peoples turns into radical Islamist movements.
- What are the goals of the organization?
- Their goal is to weaken the potential of the Islamic world, the Arab world, to control the states. Of course oil and gas interests, economic interests play an important role. Our Western partners try to prevent strengthening of the regimes which provide independent policies, but they walk into the same water twice. They walked into it in Afghanistan, when the radical movement resisted them. They walked into it in Iraq, in Libya where Islamists brutally killed an American ambassador. The same happened in Syria. And today the same mistake is made regarding Islamic State, which is able to hit the forces which have tried to use it.
- How can publication of reports on torture by the CIA influence the situation?
- I think anti-American attitudes are quite strong in the region, and they couldn’t be stronger. It is not bad that the report is published; at least people will know the truth; some will calm down and think that there are normal people as well, who want to reveal awful facts. But, in general, anti-American attitudes are so strong that no reports can make them stronger.
- Who is playing the leading role in the region today?
- It is typical for the region that there is no obvious leader, but several centers of power. Unfortunately, there is a sharp competition between Islamic states; it doesn’t bring benefits to nations. For example, the confrontation between Saudi Arabia and Iran, the ambiguous treatment of the new regime in Egypt, and so on. I hope the competition won’t be a destructive factor for the order which should exist in a multicenter region.
Many leading states of the Arab world are weakened. Egypt has economic problems as a result of several revolutions. I don’t even mention Syria and Iraq. Probably Turkey and Iran have better situations, they are more stable and don’t face such serious challenges.
- What is the role of Israel in the region in the context of worsening Israeli-American relations?
- I think the current Israeli government is providing a shortsighted policy, rejecting satisfaction of the legal demands of the Palestinians. If the situation goes on, Israel will appear in political isolation in the region where the population is concerned about losing hopes of establishing an independent Palestinian state. Israel is a state which supports normal relations with Russia; our former compatriots live there. But we are sorry that their fate depends on people who don’t want to live with Arabs in peace.
- Would there be a big war in the region, as many experts predict?
- I don’t share such a view. I am an optimist, I believe in the potential of peoples, first of all Arab nations. I love the Arab world. I believe the human capital which exists there will help the states to overcome difficult challenges.
