Add new comment

Leading experts in Oriental studies came to the conference hall of the Institute for World Economy and International Relations of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) of Ukraine on June 5, 2012, to discuss socio-economic development prospects of human civilization in the forthcoming decades. 

According to Dr.Vyacheslav Shved, mediator of the Conference “The World of the 21th Century: Multi-Civilization Paradigm of Progress”, undertakings like this used to be hosted by the two organizations: the Institute for World Economy and International Relations of the NAS of Ukraine and the National Institute for Strategic Studies. A new partner joins this dialogue today, the All-Ukrainian Association f Public Organizations (AAPO) “Alraid”, which is not just a Muslim social initiative, but a respected center in the Ukrainian community, which opinion is considered, above all, by state power bodies. Dr. Shved hoped for future productive cooperation in the three-party format.

Experts were discussing civilization prospects for both Middle East and Far East regions. Everyone was looking forward to hear the Muslims’ own position on a number of issues in light of the discourse about Islamic civilization.

The Western world ruled by technologies and finances, being a threat for civilization, quite soon can come up to the demise. According to Dr.Viktor Gura, head of Asia and Africa Department at the Institute for World Economy and International Relations of the NAS of Ukraine, it will be inevitable if the West doesn’t make critical revision of its moral criteria of the progress.

He draw the audiences’ attention to the fact, that per capita income in developed countries grew 49-fold in the past century, in comparison with the average 7-fold growth at the global level, which means pumping out resources from the periphery to enhance the welfare of Euro-Atlantic region to the detriment of all others. Although 70% of the American economy is accounted for by services, and the global share of the American GDP is 20%, this country consumes 40% of global resources. In fact, they exploit material wealth of the humanity in credit. Unless the West rethinks the moral criteria of development, future will be with the East. The term “East” refers to Muslim and East Asian countries like China, India, Japan and Korea. 

Dr. Gura doesn’t take seriously the threat of using nuclear weapons by the U.S. against Iran, as the U.S. is not the only country having strategic interests in the region. Economic and strategic partners of Iran won’t stay aside, as it would means for them losses of multimillion benefits and economic contracts. Because the world has become more compact and politically integrated in the regional dimension, they (regional actors) will prefer to deal with their issues by their own and protect their interests without engaging Americans.

His opinion was supported by Prof.Leonid Leschenko, chief researcher of Asia and Africa department, an expert on Asia, which was an envoy in China during 4 years. If seen in a broader perspective, the West lags behind the East by development rates, and the gap is even wider for countries of the South-East Asia. There’s a question about the reason why the East shows such development rates whereas the West lags behind. According to Prof. Leschenko, civilization-specific factors should be addressed and focus should be made on nations’ mentality which used to be considered as a minor significance factor in relation to productive capacities.

China for centuries was on science & technology frontiers, but in a certain time its development rate declined. Researchers say that the reason lies in Confucianism, because learned men of this philosophy teaching feared that economic development would ultimately repress development of spirituality.

The West could attain a lot in the material dimension, but it has lost purposefulness; immoral attitudes and perversions ruin the society. China, instead, has more consolidated society which development constitutes a symbiosis of traditional forms of public governance and some forms and mechanisms adapted from the West. They have tremendous experience of adaptation and even replication of experiences of other civilizations, which allows them to offer something new originating from their accumulation and rethinking. 

Eastern civilizations with different philosophy backgrounds have a common feature: they show that use of traditional methods for state and community governance brings a result. In spite of large numbers of authoritarian regimes in the East, they are stable simply because they are capable of effective operation and counteracting westernization, protecting in this way the national and civilizational identity of the nation.

No doubt, the increasing development rates of the most powerful country cannot leave careless other claimants for global domination. Regarding this, relations in “triangle” China – the U.S. – the Russian Federation are indicative.

Dr.Nataliya Gorodnya, dean of the cathedra for modern history at the Kiev Taras Shevchenko National University, when studying integration processes in the East Asia, draw an interesting parallel between pre-election situation in the U.S. and China. She shows that relations between the two states have become too cautious and balanced in this year when presidential elections in the U.S. and change of the communist party leadership in China are expected. Also, presidential elections will be held in China at the beginning of the next year.

It was the reason for stabilization of relations between the U.S. and China, and careful avoidance of conflict situations on the international arena by both parties. An outside observer may even believe that the two states have at last decided to change confrontation for cooperation. However, a more careful observer does notice that either of the states does not miss a chance to secure own benefit in naval strategies to the detriment of “partner’s” interests. The cooperation is used as a cover for accumulating serious conflict situations; neither of the parties wants to stir them up on the eve of power change, and it’s is extremely difficult to foresee the pattern of change in the post-election relations profile between the two states. 

According to Dr. Viktoriya Orlyk, senior consultant of the Foreign Policy Department at the Institute for Strategic Studies, the behavior of another large and well-armed player on the international scene should be put in focus in this context, as the Russian Federation (RF) is also willing to strengthen positions in Asian and Pacific region. 

The RF has undertaken creation of the Euro-Asian Union as a counterbalance to the EU. So far, the project is designed for countries expecting future accession to the EU. However, the RF position regarding impermissibility of the EU membership of whatever of them was fixed from the outset. 

However, until the project implementation is not conceptualized, it will remain a mere project. Although the Euro-Asian Union may be more attractive in future, it looks less successful in market or investment terms than the one of China, a strongest competitor of the RF in the region. Still uncertain are issues of its sponsorship and incapability of the RF to take on the sponsor role, not to mention unwillingness of national elites to give up at least a part of their sovereignty to attain membership in this Union.  

At the same time, because U.S. effort is streamlined on expansion of bilateral cooperation with Middle East countries, the U.S. readily supports stability of Central Asian regimes in spite of their authoritarianism.  Their support from the RF may result from the willingness to limit the Chinese influence in the region.

Dr. Bassil Mareei, “Alraid” chairman, adds that the U.S. has been trying to preserve the influence zones in the Middle East; having lost Egypt, they hold a dead grip on Syria. Instability in this country entails instability across the Middle Eastern region, and the U.S. does not want to lose this influence leverage for nothing.

Dr. Vyacheslav Shved, leading researcher of the Institute for World Economy and International Relations of the NAS of Ukraine, vice-president of the All-Ukrainian Public Organization “Ukrainian Center for Islamic Studies”, gave an analysis of the role of moderate Islam parties in the processes of “Arabic spring”.

He stressed upon the rapidly strengthening role of moderate Islam (ideology of Wasatii) across the area from Morocco to Kuwait, and outlined three models of these parties’ participation in the political life and power offices of their countries.

Egypt and Tunisia were referred to as examples of the first model, where these parties have become the ruling ones. The second model has been implemented in Morocco, where the Party of Justice, winning the parliamentary elections, interacts effectively with the ruling monarch. This model is most likely to be adapted by Jordan and Kuwait. According to the third model, these parties have to build up the opposition, as is the case of Syria or Algeria.

Dr.Shved emphasizes that some of the Russian analysts like to say that Arabic spring has allegedly passed round Algeria or even “stumbled over” Algeria. According to him, an interpretation like this is implicitly wrong due to several reasons. First, one should recall elections in 1992, ended up with civil war, and today, when post-election development in Algeria is calm. Second, a modest result of pro-Islamic forces can also be explained by vast resources invested by the ruling regime in socio-economic purposes on the elections eve, thus attracting a large portion of votes to their side. When deep political integration and political influence of the army is born in mind in latter elections context, it can be said that speculations regarding the civil war of 1992 could help the ruling regime to beat down opposition moods. However, the parties that joined “green alliance” got 40 seats in the Parliament and continued the active work on their grounds in peaceful conditions, gaining in this way a much more advantageous position than their ideological partners in Syria.

Some analysts are speculating on the difficulties occurring at the first phase of “Arabic spring”, and say with malevolence about its alleged “fizzling out” or “stumbling”… However, this process has its logic: any development will involve stumbling or minor steps back, due to changing format or energy accumulation for a new stride. Dr. Shved  lays much hope in the results of presidential elections in Egypt, which, he believes, should give a new impulse to transformation processes; their future depends on whether or not Islamic parties will manage to stay on the frontline of these processes.

Dr.Shved says that Libya offers a very indicative example of Kiev’s delayed response on change in the Middle East situation. In fact, Libya has to be sewed together anew now, and the local party of moderate Islam attempts to form the core capable of uniting broader population strata, without ethnic, tribe or other discord. Although the government is still too weak and the united army is still being built, the situation cannot be properly managed across the Libyan territory, and, according to Dr.Shved, it is moderate Islamists who are capable of uniting the Libyan people.  

The situation with our analytical works on Libya is bad. To put it straight, we are late, as official Kiev recollected it only when rebels had taken Tripoli. One known specialist (Dr.Shved abstained from naming him) was stating on the web-site of Satanovsky till the end that Kaddafi had been a good leader, whereas the Libyan people had been the ungrateful mass. Nobody cared to think about how this “mass”, when coming to power, would treat the fact that a representative of a public research institute was loudly speaking things like that.

The only consoling thing is that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs did make conclusions from the Libyan experience, took a more active position in the Syrian issue and came to attend Istanbul “Summit of Syrian Friends”, and articulated the official position that the Ukrainian leadership would make distinction between the Syrian people and the ruling regime. Yet, our positions in the region must have been weakened due to our blurred statements that may be interpreted in different ways.

Why does the West that previously took the irreconcilable position regarding communism prefer to negotiate with communist China, but doesn’t want to come to terms with the Muslim world? The likely reason is that a mass-scale campaign like this would require no lesser support of voters, but it is simpler to portray the culture not known or understood by them in a hostile manner.

To begin with, a series of existing stereotypes should be shattered. Dr.Bassil Mareei, “Alraid” chairman, draws the audience’s attention to an interesting historical fact: now Europeans are being scared by “Islamic invasion”, by allegations that European Muslims is a phenomenon alien to this region, that Muslims ruin its culture now just like they ruined the culture of other peoples that they allegedly enslaved. However, an unbiased look at various nations confessing Islam will show that all of them have preserved their national, cultural and linguistic identity; Islam, when spreading from the Arabian peninsula, didn’t make all these peoples Arabs.

The USSR used to be regarded the enemy of the Western civilization. Once it collapsed, the enemy was made of Muslims through dividing the global population by culture and religion. However, nobody concerned what would happen when members of various religions and culture would be constantly incited against each other, as it will end up with collision. The West looks at this world as a master looks at his slave, which, of course, is not liked by Muslims.

The situation like this fosters elements of radicalism in many Muslims. Because when a person who is not learnt in Islam is constantly told that he is a terrorist, in the final end he will believe that his religion does command him terrorism, and he won’t care to check the validity of this statement in reliable religious sources. Thanks God, such persons are not in the majority, but they nevertheless exist, and it’s an objective problem stemming from mass-scale campaign of disinformation about the essence and meaning of Islamic teachings.

This leads to several paradoxical situations. Thus, the movement “Muslim brotherhood” is still prohibited in Russia, although they have not disrupted diplomatic relations with the RF; just like fighting “wahhabism” at official level, which doesn’t prevent the federal government (of the RF) from accepting official delegations of Saudi Arabia, where this ideology is elevated to the official rank.

Ukraine must not copy the RF policy, as our state must observe its interest. Works of Western scientists should be taken, devoted to dialogue with Islam and impossibility of denying the Muslims contribution in the renaissance of Europe. Islam has simple religious beliefs and useful religious practices, matching side by side with the reality of each human, calling for dialogue, mutual understanding and peaceful coexistence. The dialogue won’t be a success unless the West considers Islam as something hostile and uses provocations and force to impose its ideology. An Islamic cultural project needs to be created, which would transform these processes into dialogue.

It is notable that even given critical contradictions between Iran and the U.S., it was the Iranian leadership personalized in the then president Mohammed Hatami which made a proposition of launching the dialogue with Western civilization; it was the U.S. which ultimately refused it. This example clearly shows who wants neither dialogue nor negotiations and agreements.

The report of Mr.Bassil Mareei was supported by Mr.Islam Gimadutin, deputy-chairman of the Religious Administration of Muslims of Ukraine (RAMU) “Ummah”, which spoke about history of Muslims’ life on the territory of Ukraine. He outlined both problematic points faced by followers of Islam in a non-Muslim society and advantages enjoyed by them in Ukraine in comparison with other non-Muslim countries in the post-soviet area. His speech provoked lively interest and intensive discussion, as live examples from daily and social practices of Muslims proved to be very exciting for the audience in spite of their being Oriental experts. 

The role played by Muslims in religious, cultural and social life of the Ukrainian community has been ever more visible in recent years. Intensity of Muslims’ participation in social processes shows that the Muslim community does exist in Ukraine, that there’re areas of dense Muslim population (Crimea and Donbass). In large cities Muslims are scattered, but there are villages were Islam is confessed by 100 percent of the inhabitants.

Ukraine now is not only a Slavic or a Christian country, but the home for various confessions and ethnic groups. Although the Muslim community rapidly develops, they face many problems that can be solved given understanding of state power bodies and willingness of Muslims. The followers of Islam live in the legal framework, recognize the Ukrainian statehood and do not resort to extremism; serious problems and conflicts with other confessions have not been observed.

Basically, problems faced by Muslims in Ukraine are found in all the countries where they constitute a religious minority. They include impossibility to attend Friday prayer (this issue is being solved with variable success at personal level); frequent impossibilities to have a free day in Muslim religious holydays (except for the Autonomous Republic of Crimea); underdeveloped halal infrastructure; lack of competent imam hatybs (preachers); the problem with photographic pictures for passport with a head cover for women (although they neither hide the oval of face nor complicate identification of a person, and this problem was solved long ago in favor of female Muslims in Europe and the RF); lack of access to non-interest loans (although the possibility of rendering financial services in keeping with the Shariah has been legally adopted in many Western countries).

This information caused enormous interest for Ukrainian scientists, as a major part of them have never thought about food prohibitions of Muslims and respective difficulties of eating out of home. Nor have they thought over other things mentioned above. Mr.Islam Gimadutin and Mr.Bassil Mareei were, therefore, pleased to answer numerous questions of the audience.

Mr. Islam Gimadutin emphasizes that Ukrainian Muslims also have advantages over their brothers in faith residing in many other non-Muslim countries of the post-soviet area. There’re no prohibited organizations or lists of prohibited literature; Muslims are not persecuted for their external appearance (dress), and they have equal vote in the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations.

Ukrainian Muslims are eager to be active and useful community members in various walks of life; once minor legal barriers are removed (which requires up-dating of several legal rulings), Ukrainian Muslims will rush to develop the national Islamic banking, attracting in this way investments to Ukraine from Muslim countries; women will not have to avoid professions or jobs that involve frequent shows of identity documents to strangers, as their photos in these documents won’t display parts of the body that are not to be uncovered in presence of strange men; the Ukrainian army will recruit Muslim soldiers who proved to be good military men, but now they abstain from service in the Ukrainian military forces because of impossibility of praying in due times, fasting and eating permitted foods.

In the result, positive change in the life will be felt by not only Ukrainian followers of Islam, but by the Ukrainian community on the whole. Constructive dialogue and cooperation will bring the benefit for all; the earlier these processes are undertaken, the better.

Tatiyana  Sertap