The Rise of Islamic Fundamentalism and its Impact on Syrian Crisis.

Abstract

Many of the world leaders and scholars consider Islamic fundamentalism as the newest global threat in the contemporary global society. The rivalry between Communism and the Capitalism has been replaced by a new conflict between the West and the Islamic fundamentalists. Ever since the 9/11 attack, calamities connected with radical Islam movement has spread rapidly worldwide. In the present situation negative implication of this movement is manifested in the infamous “Arab Spring” disrupting the stability of Middle East nations. Syrian Crisis is also an extension of this series of uprisings starting from 2011. It has caused lot of bloodshed and brutal atrocities, as well as the most primitive and savage practices which have made half of the Syrian population to flee the country in terror. The emergence fundamentalist movements like Al-Qaeda affiliated Al –Nusra Front and ISIS have made the Syrian Crisis more complex together with thousand other jihadists and opportunists. Therefore this study prioritizes to find out the negative impact of Islamic fundamentalism on further escalation of the Syrian crisis. The study is based on secondary data gathered through books, websites, research articles, online magazines, journal articles, newspaper articles, and public speeches given by political leaders and intellectuals. The theory of the Clash of Civilizations by Samuel P. Huntington was utilized to analyze how the rise of Islamic fundamentalism impact on the Syrian Crisis. Based on this theory the study reveals that the clashes have escalated with the increased involvement of fundamentalist movements based on the issues of religion and culture. The research further discloses that rise of the fundamentalist movements in Middle East region and the unstable situation of Syria due to political, economic and sectarian issues has become influencing factors for the development and involvement of these fundamentalist movements in Syrian Crisis. Thus it can be deduced that there is a strong relationship among Islamic Fundamentalism and the Syrian Crisis and it has challenged the security situation of Syria negatively. Since fundamentalism embodies radical ideologies and adopts violence as the central means to promote its goal and establish the new order, the future of Syria seems to be bleak.