Battison's Blog

>When you hear the word fundamentalist what do you think of? Most people think of terrorists and Islamic Fundamentalism. But is it really that simple? Is Islamic Fundamentalism the only ‘big’ fundamentalist force in the world?

There’s a good book called ‘The Reluctant Fundamentalist’ in which the reader is led to believe (it’s all very cleverly inferred) that there is a clash of civilisations and we don’t know who’s going to win, between the Western and Eastern/Muslim civilisations. I can’t remember who said it but there’s a quote that goes something like “the whole world’s at war and only one side knows it”. I would completely agree, and here’s why:

The Cold War dominated a large section of Twentieth Century history, and was characterised by a fight between the ‘extremes’ of Communism and Capitalism. Now during the Cold War neither side embraced those ideologies completely. But after the collapse of the USSR and people like Fukuyama publishing “The End of History” people believed Capitalism had won, and was undoubtedly better. This led to a version of Utopian economics in which people like Alan Greenspan thought the market would always provide the necessary solution. These ‘radical’ Capitalists today are in my opinion one fundamentalist force, to which Islamic Fundamentalism has grown to oppose.

Note how less extreme Capitalist governments tend to be accompanied by a lessening of the call to terrorism.

What are your thoughts? Do you agree?