Keys to the Caliphate

I was unable to post last week due to technical difficulties, but we are back on track this week. Enjoy!

March 3, 1924 is a date that is seared into the collective consciousness of the Islamic world. That is the day that Mustafa Kemal Ataturk's government officially abolished the Caliphate and brought an end to the Islamic empire. What is not widely known is that a couple of attempts to continue the Caliphate were made after Ataturk abolished it. King Hussein bin Ali of Hejaz claimed the title of Caliph but held onto it for about a year before his dreams of empire were crushed by the ascendant Ibn Saud. The next year a summit was convened in Cairo to determine how to revive the Caliphate, but it was about as effective as an UN General Assembly meeting (I bet the speeches were about the same, too. "We all agree it was the fault of those nasty Jews. Wait, what are we talking about?") Muslims have yearned for a renewed Caliphate for almost a century, but recent events such as the so-called Arab Spring and the rise of Islamism in "secular" Turkey have sparked a discussion among jihadists and Western experts as to the possibility of a reestablished Caliphate. It was Osama bin Laden's dream to unite the Muslim world under the banner of a strong Caliph to challenge the West's superiority, a dream he shared with Islamists all over the world. While he is dead, there are many who are willing to take up his cause. In fact, al-Qaeda even established a timeline broken down into seven stages detailing how Islam would come to dominate the world. Stage Four involved the collapse of the Arab dictatorships throughout the Middle East and was predicted to take place between 2010-2013. That's a little spooky, considering that the document revealing this timeline came out six years ago and the whole "Arab Spring" thing just started last December. The Caliphate would officially be established in Stage Five and would then proceed to make open war on the non-Islamic world.

For the purposes of this article, I am going to skip the whole, "Will they? Won't they?" regarding the chances that a new Caliphate will be formed and will instead work under the assumption that it will. Who will be in charge of this united Muslim world, and where will the seat of power be located? The Caliphate is as much a spiritual entity as a political one. There are four countries that I believe are the strongest contenders for the throne, so to speak, each for a unique reason. Let's take a look at the contenders for the keys to the Caliphate. Here they are, in no particular order:

Turkey

At first it may seem the height of irony that the country which abolished the Caliphate would be the one to call a "do-over." But upon reflection, it would make sense. After all, the Ottoman Turks ruled the Islamic Empire at the zenith of its dominance and had control of the Caliphate for about four hundred years. Modern Turkey has a significant amount of military, economic, and diplomatic power. They have been showing increasing hostility to Israel, which is scoring them big points with Islamists around the world. The Turks are also adept at manipulating the international media and Western governments alike to supporting their points of view. The Turks also control major natural gas and oil pipelines from the East into Europe, giving them an extra bit of leverage in political negotiations or times of war. Turkey is a NATO member that boasts an impressively modern military. Turkey's strong resources, influence, and geographic location would make it a formidable challenger for the seat of the new Caliphate.

Egypt

Egypt has played a significant role in Islamic history, a role that historically-minded Muslims would likely take into account. Cairo was the home of the Fatimid Caliphate from 969 until 1171 and would be able to leverage that history into support from Shia Muslims. Egypt was also the center of the powerful Ayyubid dynasty founded by famed Islamic general Saladin. The connection to the man largely responsible for driving the Crusaders out of the Middle East would serve as a powerful propaganda tool (even Saddam Hussein tried to portray himself as a modern Saladin, which is bizarre considering Saladin is Kurdish). Fast forward to 1928 when Hassan al-Banna founded the Muslim Brotherhood, one of the oldest Islamist groups still in existence. The Muslim Brotherhood established the framework of Islamic revolution that has lasted for almost a hundred years and spawned huge numbers of copycats or splinter organizations. It is true that modern Egypt is not as strong as Turkey or as wealthy as Saudi Arabia. However, Egypt has really become the centerpiece of the Arab revolutions and Tahrir Square in particular has been cemented in the mythology of this new international Islamist movement. If, as I believe is possible, these revolutions are intended to bring about a Caliphate then the importance of both the Muslim Brotherhood and the Arab revolutionaries of Cairo should not be underestimated.

Saudi Arabia

Of course, one can never forget the desert sands of the Arabian Peninsula. Home to the founder of Islam itself and to the twin spiritual centers of Mecca and Medina, Saudi Arabia holds sway over the religious heart of Islam. Saudi Arabia was also the seat of power for the original Caliphate until Caliph Ali moved it to the Iraqi city of Kufa in 656. And, as mentioned before, the Caliphate survived in the Arabian Peninsula for a brief period after its official abolishment by the Turks.
Islamists may find the best way to get around the problems with the Saudi monarchy is to simply depose them, which would necessarily be a ghastly and dreadfully difficult business but one that could prove inevitable. Should a true Islamist government rise to power, or a coup within the monarchy that would place a more radical member of the royal family on the throne, Saudi Arabia could (and I believe would) put up quite a fight for the right to be the capital of the Caliphate.

Iran

Now, Iran is an interesting case. Persia was always more of an outpost than a real center of political power, despite the fact the Persian empire had been a formidable enemy and the area remained a flourishing cultural center. On a quick side note, both Iran and the Muslim Brotherhood have some interesting connections to the Nazis. Iran's real historical connection to a new Caliphate would be the tremendous efforts they have made in order to spread the Islamic revolution since 1979. While the Muslim Brotherhood was working toward the same goals, it was the Islamic Republic of Iran that really showed how a modern Islamic state could operate. Taking advantage of the Cold War, the Iranian government quickly spread their influence throughout the Middle East by supporting terrorist groups like Hezbollah. Under the leadership of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran has made no secret of its desire to acquire nuclear weapons and to drive the Israelis into the sea (which the politicians insist are mutually exclusive concepts). Iran has also been increasingly friendly with Russia and Venezuela, revealing a network of influence that truly spans the globe. The Iranian government also believes it is their task to help pave the way for the return of the Twelfth Imam, who would be the ruler of the entire Muslim world (and naturally a Caliph). One challenge that the Iranians face is the fact that they are Shia while the majority of the Muslim world is Sunni and it would be difficult to find common ground when establishing any sort of lasting Caliphate.

What do you think? Is there a country that I missed that you think should be on the list? Which country do you think is most likely to take control of a revived Caliphate? Do you think that a conflict for dominance could lead to open war? Don't forget to send me your Comments!

Updates: Hezbollah, Pakistan, Turkey, Oh My!

Instead of a normal article, this week I will be providing updates on some of the stories that I have covered in the past. These updates are organized in the order the original articles were posted.

Iran's Connections in the Western Hemisphere

It is common knowledge in counter-terrorism circles that Iran has been very interested in expanding their operations in the Western Hemisphere. The relationship between Iranian President Ahmadinejad and Venezuela's Hugo Chavez has grown even more chummy over the past few months. As the Western world finds itself increasingly under seige, Tehran and Caracas have bonded over their mutual dislike for anything resembling the culture and society that made the West great. Think of them as being the two old hecklers from "The Muppet Show," except they also like to chuck dynamite onto the stage as well to further destabilize the situation.

Iran's proxy Hezbollah has been busy, as well. They have spent several years securing a position in the Tri-Border Area of South America, something the U.S. intelligence community has been well aware of for quite some time. As mentioned in the original article, Hezbollah has established close ties to powerful drug cartels along the U.S.-Mexico border. The instability in Mexico is a great way for Hezbollah and other terrorist organizations to make money, purchase or sell weapons, and trade information and training with the cartels and each other. American and Mexican law enforcement have been tracking increased activity centered around drug and arms trading between terrorist groups and major cartels. To make matters worse, the Cubans have joined in on the game, opening their doors to Hezbollah to establish a real presence on the Caribbean island stragetically located only 90 miles away from the United States. As Iran strengthens its position in the backyard of the most powerful nation on Earth (you don't get to be the "Great Satan" for nothing) it is shocking to see so little attention paid to these stories by the rest of the media.

How Do You Solve A Problem Like Pakistan?

Oh, Pakistan. From your corrupt and strongly Islamist military to the near-constant hell you put your Christian population through, could we really have asked for a better ally? For those of you in the audience that are sarcasm-deficient, the answer is a resounding, "Yes!" Basically anybody would be a better ally at such a crucial moment (maybe even the Turks, though that ship is sailing fast). As America, and the world, prepares to remember the 10th anniversary of the 9-11 attacks, you can bet your bottom dollar (go ahead, it's not really worth much anyway) that right around the corner we'll be hearing about the 10th anniversary of the invasion of Afghanistan. While Iraq, the so-called "bad war," has all but wrapped up, Afghanistan continues to waste American lives, money, and resources. Why is that? Are the soldiers in Afghanistan just not as good as those sent to Iraq? Or could the huge safe zone along the border with Pakistan that allows Taliban troops to move with ease and lukewarm support from our supposed ally have something to do with it? Don't answer that, it was rhetorical.

In other fun news, an incident occured between Indian and Pakistani forces stationed in Kashmir on Wednesday. The Pakistani's claimed the Indians attacked them without provocation. We should trust them. I mean, it's not like they've lied to us in the past, snuck around our backs to get nukes, or sheltered the most wanted terrorist in the entire history of the world, right? Anyway, a showdown between Pakistan and India would not be in the interest of world peace, but it could provide yet another rallying cry for the global Caliphate that is slowly but surely coming together.

Islamists Flexing Their Muscles in Turkey

And finally, we come to Turkey. On the international front, Turkey's relationship with Israel has become rocky, to put it very mildly. They have expelled the Israeli ambassador because Israel has refused to apologize for the flotilla raid last year. Turkey has also said, in spite of a report from the UN which cleared Israel of illegal activity (I know, I had to read that one again, too), they will continue to demand an apology, compensation to the families of the nine people killed, and an official end to the Gaza blockade. In response, Israel laughed so hard that milk squirted out of their nose. Okay, I may have added that last part, but it wouldn't surprise me if it actually happened.

I mentioned in my previous article that, after Ataturk abolished the Caliphate, it was the constitutional mandate of the Turkish military to prevent the nation from falling back into the grip of Sharia and Islamism. Well, Prime Minister Erdogan will not let a little thing like that stand in his way. Very recently, the head of the Turkish armed forces decided to "retire" at the same time as the officers in charge of Turkey's ground, naval, and air forces. That would be equivilant to the entire Joint Chiefs of Staff deciding to spontaneously resign from their posts at the same time. From another perspective, it would be like the entire Supreme Court (as protectors of the Constitution) deciding to retire at the same time for no particular reason. But this little news story received so little attention I didn't even know about it until a couple of weeks ago. As the movement to restore the Caliphate gains steam, it is more than a little ironic that the same country that abolished the Caliphate is jockeying for position as a possible seat of power should a new one arise.

If you have anything you'd like to add to these stories, or perhaps something I may have overlooked, please leave me some Comments below.