Africa's radical Islam: Benghazi and Cairo as harbingers of the future

It is not easy to best the fury of Pakistan's mullahs but several post 'Arab Spring' nations have done so in the last few days. In normal times, Pakistan's radical clerics will be the first to rile up people to destroy public infrastructure whenever there is a 'threat' to Islam. So far, Pakistan's mullahs have been unusually quiet.

However, the furor over the anti-Islam film has caused widespread unrest within other parts of the Islamic world. The US ambassador to Libya was killed allegedly by an outraged mob in Benghazi. Additionally, the US embassy in Cairo was overrun by protestors who burnt the US flag and replaced it with an 'Islamic' flag. Protests have also spread to Tunisia and Sudan.

Clearly, Pakistan's radical clerics have other things on their mind these days. Either they are busy preparing for the forthcoming general election, due by March 2013. Or they have agreed a separate 'deal' with President Zardari to keep the peace. It is impossible to believe that Pakistan's clerics have changed their stripes. They must have calculated this not a politically opportune time to raise the heat in the country.



The new face of Egyptian state television

On the other hand, the politics of post 'regime change' Libya and Egypt have become clearer following the reaction to the film, "The Innocence of Muslims." Undoubtedly, the alleged identity of the key filmmaker being a Coptic Christian makes the issue more sensitive in Egypt, given the size of the country's Christian Coptic minority. Nevertheless, in Mubarak's Egypt the storming of the US embassy in Cairo would have been a remote possibility. Egyptian state's machinery was good not only for repression but also for maintaining order on the country's streets.

Likewise in Libya. Unless 'attacks' were intentionally orchestrated by Colonel Gaddafi own apparatus, foreign diplomatic missions in Libya were safe. In this instance, not only was the US consulate in Benghazi overrun but the US ambassador was also killed - an act of war in normal times.

As time progresses, the real face of the Arab Spring reveals itself. Egyptian state television news presenters donning scarves is simply the presentable face. The real danger lies in the unseen elements lurking behind the revolutions: these are the people who conspire to impose wahhabi Islam on all Muslims by force or threat of force.

The attacks on US interests in Libya and Egypt were neither random nor isolated. The world can expect more upheaval as radical Islam seeps into the mainstream political structure in African countries like Egypt, Tunisia, Mali, Nigeria and Libya.

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Imran is a business and management consultant. Through his work at Deodar Advisors and the Deodar Diagnostic, Imran improves profits of businesses operating in Singapore and the region. He can be reached at imran@deodaradvisors.com.

Pakistan's half full glass

The Pakistani state is at a crossroads. Few can be faulted for assuming Pakistan is perpetually on the brink. The country faces a low level insurgency in on its border with Afghanistan. Sectarian killings, particularly in Balochistan are frequent. Electricity is in short supply, hobbling economic growth and investment. Irresponsible fiscal policies mean inflation is stubbornly high, eating away at the middle class. The list is endless - if one wishes to see the glass half empty.

However, there is more to Pakistan than news headlines suggest. Following the end of President Musharraf's  rule, Pakistanis are indulging in politics like never before. Ordinary people are not simply attending rallies but also preparing themselves for the next General Elections due by March 2013. Most everyone I meet plans to vote in the forthcoming elections - nearly all are making the effort for the first time.

For a change, government institutions play a role in encouraging voters to participate in the next elections. The Pakistan National Database Authority (NADRA) has computerized the electoral rolls. Citizens can check via sms whether they are registered to vote, or change their registered constituency easily.  

Politics is not the only change. The depth and breadth of quality educational institutions is clearly on the rise. To be sure, many of the new institutions are in the private sector with expensive fee structures, but there is no dearth of able and willing students to fill their registers. For example, the Karachi School for Business and Leadership (KSBL), established in strategic collaboration with Cambridge University, opens its doors this year.

Culture is another area seeing a renaissance. Literature, music, visual arts are also seeing a revival of sorts. Perhaps artists are generated in times of social transition when differing ideas are vying for ascendancy? Perhaps a more open, creative environment engineered by former President Musharraf is finally paying dividends. Nonetheless, Pakistani artists are producing more quality content today than any time in the recent past.

Economically, a bright light shines in the form of better trade relations with India. India is a huge market, but Pakistan is no minnow either. Already, Pakistan is amongst the top three international markets for Bollowood movies. (It was not for charity that Salman Khan wished to visit Pakistan to help his most recent film be cleared by the Pakistan Censorship Board.) Indian industrialists and businessmen are as eager to establish themselves in Pakistan as many Pakistani counterparts are to enter the Indian market.

The international media may continue to bash Pakistan every chance it gets - and the country certainly provides plenty of opportunities. However, Pakistan's dynamism has not disappeared. Neither has the country's optimism. Nor will the mullah's easily reverse gains made by Pakistani women.

Now if only the country had more electricity, Pakistan might return to the glory days of steady and high economic growth. Build, borrow or buy: Pakistan needs more electricity to sustain its historic vibrancy. Economic growth alone will help soothe many of Pakistan's current social issues.

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Imran is a business and management consultant. Through his work at Deodar Advisors and the Deodar Diagnostic, Imran improves profits of businesses operating in Singapore and the region. He can be reached at imran@deodaradvisors.com.

Pakistan's other Imran and its chattering classes

Since the advent of Zardari's Pakistan People's Party (PPP) led government in 2008, governance in Pakistan has all but disappeared. Some may refer to the deterioration as 'creative chaos' but in reality the decline is simply a manifestation of an incompetent government with a corrupt leadership comprising of politicians who have no desire to address any national issues. Their only wish being to retain the privileges of power.

 

 

One beneficiary of the PPP's incompetent government is Pakistan's former cricket star, Imran Khan.

After spending years in the political wilderness, Khan's party the Tehreek Insaf (PTI) is knocking on the doors of Pakistan's political mainstream. For a politician who has yet to win an elections in his own parliamentary constituency, the PTI's progress is no small achievement.

The ordinary Pakistani voters' disillusionment with the country's two main established political parties, the PPP and Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-N, is a major contributing factor to the PTI's popularity.

A vote for PTI is a protest vote. A desperate electorate's plea for help. An electorate repeatedly abandoned and deceived by established politicians. Significantly, Pakistan's protest voters have not turned to Islamic parties, primarily because the orthodox religious establishment is a pillar for the existing decayed political structure.

Khan's success with the PTI bodes well for the future of Pakistani politics.

The party has not shied away from public discussion about difficult political or economic issues. Consequently, not only has public awareness about important national issues increased but, most importantly, the standards for policy debate have improved. Pakistan's vibrant television media - always looking for the next sensational news item - has latched onto the PTI's agenda as a tool to take the establishment to task.

Moreover, the PTI has struck a chord with Pakistan's normally apathetic youth. Suddenly, politics is no longer a dirty and dangerous pastime, but a national obligation. The PTI's 'tsunami' of change is predicated upon politicizing large numbers of young voters.

The PTI has also galvanized educated professionals into action. Many professionals, alarmed at the prospect of retiring in a 'Failed State,' have moved beyond heated debate during whiskey drinking sessions and entered the political arena. Whether such 'technocrats' are merely PR 'talking heads' or they will exercise significant policy making influence within the party remains to be seen.

The Minar-e-Pakistan: erected on the site where the Pakistan Resolution was passed in Lahore in 1940

To most Pakistanis, Imran Khan is a cricketer who also built the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre. Khan was a playboy who turned into a pseudo-mullah, an anglophile become 'desi.' For Pakistani voters, the PTI may be a naive, confused political party but it does hold out hope for positive change for a people who deserve better than criminals and gangsters walking the corridors of power.

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Imran is a business and management consultant. Through his work at Deodar Advisors and the Deodar Diagnostic, Imran improves profits of businesses operating in Singapore and the region. He can be reached at imran@deodaradvisors.com.

Iran's nuclear performance at Olympics 2012

The Olympics are about national pride. Nations often go to extreme lengths to win even a few medals. Consider the use of foreign born 'imported' talent by smaller nations such as Singapore.

To be sure, Olympics 2012 have highlighted China's emergence as a sports powerhouse. Given the People's Republic's enormous population and increasing wealth, China's success in London should not surprise many. On the contrary, Iran's performance at the 2012 Olympic games caught my eye.

With one more day of medals left, Iran's twelve Olympic medals outpace other large Muslim nations such as Turkey's five, Indonesia's two or Pakistan's zero. Iran's medal haul includes four gold and five silver medals. Among countries with large Muslim populations only Kazakhstan, with six gold medals, obtained more gold medals than Iran.

There is more to the Olympic medals table than meets the eye.

Looking at the total tally of medals by the top sporting nations, one gets the impression that the list reflects a slightly imperfect pecking order amongst the world's rich and powerful. A kind of 'A List' or 'Who's Who' for the world's umpteen nations. Note that the top five medal winning nations are the United States, China, Britain, Russia and Germany - only Germany is not a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council.

The absence of Muslim countries from even coming near the top of the Olympics 2012 medals table demonstrates the weakness of the Islamic world's social infrastructure. From this perspective, Iran represents the Islamic world's strengths and weaknesses.

That Iran scored a reasonable tally of medals demonstrates the resilience of its national institutions in the face of international isolation. However, most of Iran's medals were obtained in wrestling and weightlifting reflecting concentrated expertise and primarily with male athletes.  The pitiful number of female athletes is telling.

Undoubtedly, a nation which competes for only half the medals on offer, i.e. the men's events, has an uphill struggle to reaching a decent medals count. Additionally, nations which do not field contingents that contest across a wide range of sports are also at a severe disadvantage. Concentration risk affects nations as much as it does businesses.

Saudi Arabia was divided about the participation of Saudi female athletes in the 2012 Olympics, with or without the hijab

The Olympics are a truly global event. The occasion surpasses racial, religious and, at times, even national barriers. In spite of this, the success of such an international event requires raising the banner of nationalistic patriotism. A country's pride is at stake. In the 2012 Olympics, the Islamic world was unable to meet the collective aspirations of its varied population. The failure underscores the Islamic world's broader issues of poor governance, internal strife and lack of female empowerment. If these basic issues are addressed then most nations may likely forgive governments for the lack of a medals count at Rio 2016.

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Imran is a business and management consultant. Through his work at Deodar Advisors and the Deodar Diagnostic, Imran improves profits of businesses operating in Singapore and the region. He can be reached at imran@deodaradvisors.com.   

Burning mosques, fasting and the world's extremists

These days it is the Islamic world which typically finds itself on the wrong side of human freedoms. The list of 'taboo' subjects not addressed by most Muslim societies is long. Often the subjects are dominated by issues pertaining to religious orthodoxy and women's rights. Witness the mental energies spent discussing the participation of Saudi Arabian women (two in total) in the 2012 Olympic Games.

Sometimes, however, the shoe is on the opposite foot.

I am not referring only to the Norwegian white supremacist who tragically shot many of his compatriots about one year ago. There are several other instances which beckoned me to write this post.

Consider the firing of four French local government workers for fasting (it is the fasting month of Ramzan for Muslims) during working hours. The town council is managed by the French communist party and it seems communists are as rigid in interpreting Marxist 'Holy Scriptures' as Muslims. However, at least this is not a case of white supremacist ideology but rather a particular version of 'secularist' philosophy.

Farther afield, in the US, circumstances are slightly different.

The shooting of American Sikhs allegedly by a 40 year old US army veteran seems very much like a hate crime. The shooter is apparently a neo-Nazi targeting non-white Americans. Or the mosque burnt to the ground in the state of Missouri. It may be too early to point fingers at white supremacists in the mosque burning incident, however, it is difficult to argue the Muslim place of worship was a random target.

There is no dearth of international 'hate crime' incidents for me to cite. But preparing a longer list serves no useful purpose, other than perhaps providing more empirical evidence. Instead, it is more helpful if to draw some conclusions from the facts.

1. Islam has no monopoly on extremist nutcases;
2. Extremists are dangerous, period. Any ideology taken to an extreme and rigidly interpreted is dangerous;
3. Stopping violent crimes is important but is only one part of the equation. Longer term, addressing the philosophical underpinnings of violent extremism is as important, if not more, in arresting the proliferation of dangerous ideas.

Undoubtedly, the Muslim world has problems with extremist thought. However, the problem is not Islam's alone. Islam's dangerous ideas did not develop in a vacuum. These ideas developed in a post-war world dominated by Western powers often demonstrating brutally arrogant behaviors against ideological opponents, Islamic or otherwise.

Extremists from differing sides of the secularist and / or white supremacist - Islamist divide have a symbiotic relationship which thrives on each others' unreasonableness. After all, politics is not immune from Newton's Third Law of Motion which states that every action has an equal and opposite reaction.

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Imran is a business and management consultant. Through his work at Deodar Advisors and the Deodar Diagnostic, Imran improves profits of businesses operating in Singapore and the region. He can be reached at imran@deodaradvisors.com.

Singapore’s corruption: only the taker pays?

Commerce relies on personal relationships. It is a fact of human interaction that commercial relationships frequently become friendships. I can attest to having met many people I now count as friends, initially through professional interactions. Nonetheless, there are certain ‘red lines’ which demarcate appropriate and inappropriate relationships within a commercial relationship.

Mostly, these factors pertain to conflicts of interests between the two parties. Often there is no black and white clarity about where / when the line is crossed. Instead, it normally relies on following one’s own conscience and judgement. However, other instances fall plainly on weak ground, legally and ethically.

Take the case of a National University of Singapore (NUS) Law Professor allegedly receiving sexual and material gratification from a student in consideration for improved course grades; or senior Singapore government officers allegedly obtaining sexual fulfilment in return for preferential treatment of a particular company’s bid to provide services.

I must point out that these cases are still before the courts. As of today, neither an innocent or guilty verdict has been pronounced.

Still, one thing bothers me about these cases. In neither case has the ‘bribe giver’ been charged with a crime. In other words, the NUS student who supposedly gave a Mont Blanc pen, had sex or paid her law professor’s bill remains free as a bird. Only her reputation has been sullied by the turn of events. Likewise, the marketing persons who had sex with senior government civil servants purportedly to facilitate sales to government agencies also continue to be untouched by the law.

The situation baffles me because were an individual to bribe a government servant (or professor) with cash in return for certain treatment both parties will face the courts, i.e. the person giving the bribe and the person receiving the bribe. Try bribing a policewoman handing you a parking a ticket and see whether you get hauled off to court?

After all, does it matter whether the bribe was paid in cash or kind? What matters more is that consideration was illegally received by one party in return for inappropriately using his influence to benefit the ‘bribe giver.’ Even if a lawyer can explain to me the legal niceties allowing these ‘bribe givers’ to get away scot free, the situation does not pass my ‘smell test.’ The circumstances stink of rottenness. At the very least, justice is not seen to be done.

To top it all off, the general public receives a mixed message. It is illegal to receive bribes but acceptable to offer bribes. Surely, that is not the signal Singaporeans should be receiving from the law enforcement authorities?

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Imran is a business and management consultant. Through his work at Deodar Advisors and the Deodar Diagnostic, Imran improves profits of businesses operating in Singapore and the region. He can be reached at imran@deodaradvisors.com.

Islam’s civil war and the post 9/11 dialectic

Near term, it's difficult to be optimistic about the Islamic world. Virtually all corners of this diverse grouping face issues of some sort. The latest entrant to the a-list of Muslim problem countries is Syria.

Syria has slowly but surely descended into a chaotic civil war.

The sad fact is that Syria, along with Tunisia and Iraq were relative success stories for the Islamic world. These were reasonably integrated nations with high percentages of non-Muslim minorities living peaceably in their midst. Women's rights were well respected. Physical infrastructure was, if not good, at least passable; certainly, at 'Second World' standards and at par with many parts of Eastern Europe.

Our Lady of Dormition Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarchal Cathedral, Damascus, Syria.

Unfortunately, bad politics makes for bad economics. And when politics deteriorates into wars and endemic civil unrest then economics becomes a subservient part of the national development equation.

Syria must be analyzed within the wider context of the Saudi – Iranian rivalry for regional dominance. Whatever comes next in Syria, one fact is clear: reactionary Islamists will increase their influence in an otherwise socially progressive part of the Arab world. That Saudis bankroll a large part of the rebel Syrian army should be a good indicator of future influence in Damascus.

For its part, Iraq may be on the mend following the US inspired Iraq war. However, if things get ugly in Iran, Iraq cannot escape its geography. Iraq's large Shia population will ensure the country pays a price for any Israeli - US intervention in Iraq's eastern neighbour, Iran.

The drama unfolding in Tunisia and Egypt foreshadows similar encroachments by Islamists in other parts of the Islamic world. More religious interference, formal and informal, in state affairs is a certainty in most Muslim countries.

Few will escape Islam's 'new normal.' Gone are the old post-colonial westernized political elites. These cast members have long been replaced by home grown, often petrodollar sponsored, religious conservatives fed on a staple of Muslim Brotherhood style ideology.

Amongst the most dangerous recent developments, the dialectic between Muslim and Non-Muslim nations has dramatically changed since 9/11. All western actions are put through an Islamic 'religious' paradigm. Likewise, the western world also tends to think in terms of a monolithic Islamic world. Islamic extremists from geographies as diverse as Algeria, Somalia, Afghanistan and Indonesia are unceremoniously lumped into the same 'dronable' problem. As far as Islamists are concerned, the maxim that 'all politics is local' has been conveniently discarded.

Statue of Saladin in Damascus, Syria.

Undoubtedly, the Islamic world is in a mess – and Muslim pride and egos are at low ebb. Muslims themselves must accept a large portion of the blame for the current state of affairs.

Nevertheless, it is darkest before the dawn. Given the depths to which parts of the Islamic world have recently plummeted I presume it can only get better from here.

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Imran is a business and management consultant. Through his work at Deodar Advisors and the Deodar Diagnostic, Imran improves profits of businesses operating in Singapore and the region. He can be reached at imran@deodaradvisors.com.