A Culture in Danger

ALI BULAC Global capitalism has imposed itself on the world as an unrivaled system after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989. When communism failed after the break-up of the Warsaw Pact, the West started to believe in the descent of a Messiah. Just like modernity, the concrete form of the Enlightenment, containing its main assumptions, is the secularized form of the Christian theology, democracy and capitalism represent the idea that history is drawing to a close and that salvation is possible. The central message in Francis Fukuyama's book, “The End of History,” was that humanity has come to the end of its development. However, this is not the first time such a message has been communicated. It was similar to the Ottoman state's ambition to create a Pax Ottomana. At the height of its power, the Ottoman state declared it was the sponsor of a world order and that those included in this order would be saved, whereas those who remained outside would be miserable. The Ottoman argument asserted that there was no other power that would be able to compete with them; in short, there was no alternative to Ottoman rule and power. However, even at the time this declaration was made, the Ottoman state had started to decline. However, the Ottomans' defiance had a different meaning from the statement “You're either with us, or against us,” uttered by George W. Bush as he declared the arrival of a new world order in the early 21st century. At the height of its power, the Ottoman state did not consider including the others into its order by force. From an Ottoman point of view, those who did not want to join their order were free to do so and would be able to exist in their own autonomous world. There was no coercion in Islam for adopting its precepts. Fukuyama was not unaware of the Ottoman past, but he held that it was the West which came to the end of history -- an idea developed due to the inspiration of Hegel. Those who did not want to be included in the end of history could be left out of history, like some parts of the Middle East and some African countries. But when Samuel P. Huntington's theory of civilizations was advanced, Western decision makers concluded that they could not leave alone regions not integrated with their system. Capitalism is a system which needs to spread on a global scale to ensure its survival; the main dynamic of this system is also the main weakness. We could reduce this to one single word: growth. This is the strongest and the weakest dynamic of the system. Capitalism has to grow fast and constantly, which requires it to be spread to every part of the world. Growth cannot be sustained if some actors and regions are left alone as autonomous structures. The reason this process started in the Middle East is the fact that Islam does not possess the ambition of imposing the ideology of growth. From an Islamic point of view, desires for worldly assets make the spirit unsatisfied. The US, the leader of the system, is incorrect in its information and perceptions with respect to Islam and the Middle East. The fact that Islam is not ambitious for growth does not mean that it is insensitive and indifferent to socio-political developments. Islam is not the product of historical and social coincidences. But of course, its discourse is shaped by the world of conjectural conditions or objects. War emerges in cases of fights and occupations, social justice in cases of inequalities and injustices, equality in cases of racial discrimination and spiritual goals in cases of a lack of meaning and objectives. This is the main distinction between Islam and other religions. Jihad in the Middle East, social justice in Africa, Sufism and equality in Europe -- all four of these discourses are different ways of expressing the truth. The alternative to liberal capitalism that declares end of capitalism seems to be Islam, which is able to develop a unique solution in every kind of historical and social situation. Directly or indirectly, Islam defies the ideas of liberal capitalism. What brings the US to the region is not just oil wells, because if you have oil, you want to sell it regardless of who you are opposed to. What is under threat is not just oil wells or Israel. What is under great threat is global culture.