Russian hegemony and Islamic resistance: Ideology and political organization in Dagestan 1800–1930

Administrative reforms within the Ottoman bureaucracy in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries resulted in many educated men joining the civil service. Süleyman Nazîf's father served in the Ottoman power structure for many years, but Süleyman Nazîf himself, despite being appointed to important political posts, gave them up to continue his career as a poet, writer, journalist and patriotic political commentator. Like many high-ranking Ottomans, he was exiled to Malta by the British after Turkey's defeat in the First World War. Süleyman Nazîf has also left an indelible mark on the literary milieu of his time because of his ready wit and wry humour.     

The Islamist Uprising in Syria, 1976–82: The History and Legacy of a Failed Revolt

The Islamist Uprising in Syria between 1976 and 1982 remains understudied in view of the growing availability of new primary sources on the subject. The present article explores the unfolding of the Revolt, examining the causes for its eventual defeat and the long-term legacy of the Uprising. It argues that the Islamist Uprising in Syria failed for a variety of reasons, first and foremost internal disunity and indecisiveness, leading to a lack of military preparedness, planning, and coordination at critical junctures, and a lack of mass mobilization for the Revolt. Failure to rally sufficient foreign support made the Uprising crumble in the face of the regime’s unrestrained brutality. Rather than serving as a rallying cry for the Syrian opposition, the defeat at Hama has had a divisive effect, illustrated by the contradictory narratives embraced by the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood and their jihadi opponents.     

History and perceptions of regionalism in Botswana, 1891–2005

Although economic, political, ethnic and religious factors have led to regionalisms and other divides, causing civil strife and civil wars in many countries, in Botswana the north–south divide existed for a long time merely as a political undercurrent. However, the turn of the twenty-first century saw the explosion of issues motivated by perceptions that it was the north–south divide that caused imbalance in the provision of infrastructural development and ethnic inequality. This article traces the north–south divide in Botswana back to the early British colonial enterprise, when it was used for administrative convenience. Although in the post-colony the first president handled the situation pro-actively, his successors abandoned this approach. Regionalism ensued as personal ambitions for power and wealth took political and sometimes tribal dimensions. Ethnic identities were used to bolster campaigns despite the fact that identities in Botswana are multiple and multilayered rather than mutually exclusive.     

From Islamic Radicalism to Islamic Capitalism: The Promises and Predicaments of Turkish-Islamic Entrepreneurship in a Capitalist System (The Case of İGİAD)

The rise of Turkish Islamic capitalism, and with it an Islamic bourgeoisie and the accompanying lifestyle has profound implications for the Muslim world, since the Turkish Muslims have been backed by a relatively successful democratic and liberal system that has allowed them to integrate more easily into the global system. Focusing mainly on the members of the Islamic-oriented Association of Economic Entrepreneurship and Business Ethics (?G?AD), the aim of this article is to demonstrate the inherent (in)compatibility and contradictions between Islam and capitalism in contemporary Turkey, and by extension in the Muslim world. From the start, for the Turkish Muslim bourgeoisie, the burning questions were ‘how to earn’ and, more importantly, ‘how to consume’ within a capitalist system while still not transgressing Islamic boundaries. In order to overcome these challenges, the article argues that, rather than creating an ‘alternative Islamic economic system’, Islamic actors have reduced – in some cases, even eliminated – this discursive and ideological tension between Islam and capitalism by (a) trying to introduce Islamic morality into capitalism and (b) redefining both Islam and capitalism. Through these mechanisms they have also broadened and deepened Turkish modernity.     

‘Saddam's Qadisiyyah’: Religion and History in the Service of State Ideology in Baʿthi Iraq

Rhetoric espoused by the Ba?thi regime of Iraq reflected a deliberate mix of nationalistic and religious elements, most clearly expressed in the discourse surrounding the war with Iran, termed ‘Saddam's Qadisiyyah’, after a battle during the Arab-Islamic conquests, which Saddam Husayn turned into a metaphor for Arab-Iranian relations. As the memory of the seventh century engagement was popularized in Iraq, Qadisiyyah nomenclature spread throughout the Arab world (and beyond) and Saddam's political paradigm found acceptance among Arab governments and western observers alike. Saddam used this propaganda campaign to three ends: (1) to portray the political conflict with Iran as an ancient ethnic clash; (2) to promote his cult of personality; and (3) to present a successful precedent for Arab victory over Iran. In doing so, Saddam forged a new ‘Arab-Islamist’ discourse, combining religious faith with nationalist sentiment, which he embraced with increasing reliance to the end of his rule. Today, radical Sunni Islamist groups have assumed the mantle of this rhetoric.     

Taiwan’s Anti-Nuclear Movement: The Making of a Militant Citizen Movement

Social movement studies have constantly focused on research relating to movement strategy, without reaching a consensus on the most viable strategies for realising a movement’s goal. Instead of conceptualising movement strategy as merely a product of movement leaders’ rational calculations, this article analyses a case of strategy shift attributable to leadership replacement and unexpected events. This article examines the significant breakthroughs achieved by Taiwan’s anti-nuclear movement following Japan’s Fukushima Incident in 2011, as well as the 2014 Sunflower Movement in Taiwan. It argues that a militant citizen movement came into being because a new wave of activism employed non-partisan leadership and demonstrated a willingness to employ disruptive tactics. Mounting protests generated a split among members of the traditionally pro-nuclear Kuomintang political party, which was forced to halt the construction of the fourth nuclear power plant in 2014. With the regime change in 2016 that brought the more environment-friendly Democratic Progressive Party to power, Taiwan is now on course to phase out nuclear energy.     

The politics of national‐populism: Ideology and policies of the German Republikaner party

In this article, the Republikaner party's ideology and policies are explored on the basis of programmes and other public statements. There will be an emphasis on economic policies and issues of national and ethnic identity. It will be argued that the Republikaner party is targeting a broader electoral coalition than its main competitors and predecessors on the extreme right. In its attempt to mobilise a broad and heterogeneous protest coalition and to attract voters beyond the narrow confines of traditional right‐wing extremism the party makes contradictory promises to various sectional groups without being able to integrate them into a consistent framework of economic policy. These contradictions are covered up by the party's radical nationalism, extreme xenophobia and populist propaganda.     

The Rise and Fall of Hasan Abdallah al-Turabi: A Unique Chapter in Sudan's Political History (1989–99)

Since its independence in 1956 until September-October 2013, at the completion of this study, Sudan has had seven civilian or military regimes. All of them, excluding the military regime headed by General Abd al-Rahman Muhammad Hasan Siwar al-Dahab (1985–86) and the current Bashir regime, were overthrown. These regimes focused only on remaining in power and did little to relieve Sudan's desperate hardships. This study, which surveys the decade (1989–99) under the two-headed leadership of Bashir and Turabi, will explore the truth of this claim. The Bashir-Turabi regime marked a unique and important chapter in Sudan's political history and had crucial ramifications for Sudan's politics in the twenty-first century.     

Voices of the Commonwealth: An Oral History of the Modern Commonwealth 1965–2012

This article describes a major exercise undertaken by the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, London, to put together an oral history of the modern Commonwealth. The project was set in the context of a wider research agenda aimed at investigating whether the Commonwealth has made any difference globally in policy terms. As part of the exercise, the author, who was the lead researcher on the project, interviewed senior figures within the Commonwealth who played key roles in shaping the destiny of the organization and in influencing policy. The article is a personal account of the exercise.     

The Application of Tanzimat in the Desert: The Bedouins and the Creation of a New Town in Southern Palestine (1860–1914)

The second half of the nineteenth century was a period when the Ottoman government's centralization efforts gained momentum. In Southern Palestine, this entailed a struggle for central government to gain the upper hand over the Bedouin tribes. In the 1860s, the Ottoman government was still using military power to end the internal strife between the Bedouin tribes. However, from the 1890s on, the government began to use sophisticated means and tactics in order to secure control and encourage the integration of the Bedouin element in the empire. The creation of a new town, namely Beersheba, the changing apparatus of administration, the construction of public buildings in desert, all meant that the government attempted to penetrate the nomad's way of life. In this study the main emphasis will be given to describing the role of the state in forming and changing the tribal institutions.