Mahmud Muhammad Taha and the Rise and Demise of the Jumhuri Movement

Mahmud Muhammad Taha founded the Jumhuri (Republican) Party in 1945 in the context of the fight for Sudan's independence. The nature of the party's ideology went through a radical change after Taha emerged from a mystical retreat in 1951. In the light of this ideology, the party advocated a "neo-Islamist" position committed to a reconciliation of Islam and modernity. Some of Taha's social and political stances are critically examined. Particular attention is paid to the reasons at the root of the demise of the Jumhuri movement after Taha's execution in January of 1985.     

Back to Mangu Zambiri: Art,Politics and Identity in Northern Sudan

This paper is an attempt in cultural criticism from a certain aesthetic standpoint to investigate how the arts can give insight into the identity problem of Northern Sudanese. Given the archaeological and historical refutation of migration theory and the consolidation of the notion of the ethnic continuity of the central riverain inhabitants (the Ja'liyyin) as Nubians, the paper disputes the other characterization of them as a "culturally" Arabized Sudanese. To prove this, the long neglected aesthetic dimension as an essential component of culture is underlined. Challenging certain Arabocentric musical and literary discourses, the "Sudanese" nature of some aspects of Northern music and poetry is stressed. The concept "Sudanization" is adopted to define a historically ongoing key process which manifests itself in the arts. Also the term "specification" is used to describe alternative political and aesthetic discourses to define Sudanese identity such as the discourse of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement and other forces.     

Freedom of Speech and Democracy in Malaysia

This article seeks to understand the situation of political speech in Malaysia, the argument in favour of restrictions on political speech, and the problems that prevent political speech from being practised effectively. For example, two particularly sensitive issues—ethnic rivalry and religion—are considered taboo and discussion of these issues is severely restricted. Article 10 of the Malaysian Constitution, in reflecting the sensitiveness of these issues, specifies a list of restrictions, which limit the right of free speech on the grounds of guarding political stability and racial harmony. Furthermore, freedom of political speech and the political rights of individuals are secondary to the goals of national prosperity and national development, and the government is predisposed to impose some form of political discipline in order to serve the greater social good. However, the Malaysian government has taken a step further to control not only hate and racial speech, but also any political speech that seriously challenges the government. In this respect, the Malaysian government can be accused of being less democratic for its restriction on political speech.     

De-Radicalization Initiatives in Egypt: A Preliminary Insight

This article provides a preliminary insight to the ideological revision of the two principle Islamist militant groups in Egypt, the Al-Gamaa Al-Islamiyya and Al-Jihad Al-Islami. Several leaders of these groups have taken steps to renounce violence and promote peace co-existence with the government and society. They have also repented and apologized for the past terror attacks in Egypt that led to the killing of many innocent civilians, government officials and tourists. In addition, they have gone to great lengths to counter and argue against Al Qaeda's violent ideology and to restrict its influence on the Muslim population. The ideological revision of these two groups reflects a significant shift in the efforts of the Egyptian authorities and community to address the problem of ideological extremism and terrorism in the country.     

Political Islam,Clash of Civilizations,U.S. Dominance and Arab Support of Attacks on America: A Test of a Hierarchical Model

This study examines two theses used to explain Arab support of the 11 September attacks on the United States: clash of civilizations and anti-dominance reaction to perceived American hegemony in the Middle East. Huntington's clash-of-civilizations thesis has been widely challenged, but rarely tested on the basis of individual-level data. In this study data were obtained from a random sample consisting of 805 male and female respondents representing 7 Arab nations: Egypt, Iraq, Kuwait, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and Saudi Arabia. Results from structural equation modeling show strong support for the anti-dominance thesis and essentially no support for the clash-of-civilizations thesis. These findings suggest a lack of fit between “civilization” and political values contrary to what Huntington had originally posited.     

(RE)EXPERIENCING THE NOW-GONE: YOUTH AND CULTURAL POLITICS IN SOVIET AND POST-SOVIET CENTRAL ASIA

The events of the so-called Arab Spring reconnected the young and their culture with images of organized political activism and resulted in huge political resonance. So this may be an appropriate point at which to reconsider the relevance of youth culture politics in the now-gone Soviet Union. The article explores the connections between cultural consumption by the young, ideology, and political ambivalence during Soviet times and considers how the Soviet genre of youth culture politics is being reproduced and continued in an extended form in the post-Soviet setting, specifically in Uzbekistan.     

Beyond religious affinity: Malaysia's relations with countries in the Arab Gulf

Abstract

Economic and political changes at the global level have simultaneously shifted Malaysia's interests in the Arab Gulf countries. The economic liberalisation and transformation agenda that emerged in these economies are argued to be contributing factors to Malaysia's interest in expanding its economic relationships with the countries. Although the current cooperation between Malaysia and the Arab Gulf countries is aimed at reaping economic benefits, religious values also constitute an important foundation for these relationships. This article seeks to understand why politics, economics and religion remain the key drivers in determining Malaysia's relations with the Arab Gulf countries. The paper also suggests a future direction for engagement between Malaysia and Gulf Cooperation Council countries.     

Primordialism vs. instrumentalism in Somali society: is an alternative needed?

ABSTRACT

Many of the explanations of Somali society, its state and the conflict in the country centre on the clan system and contain elements of primordialism or instrumentalism. Yet the assumptions underpinning these models have not been critically analysed. In these models, the Somali clan system is seen as either being primordial or flexible but ultimately manipulated by elites. This article, based on qualitative interviews and observations, analyses the utility of these two approaches and finds that the narratives founded thereon fail to comprehend fully the clan system in Somalia and, therefore, the society and conflict in the country. While rejecting these approaches as a theoretical framework, this paper offers an alternative understanding of Somali society and its clan system based on the notion of clan dynamism and its bidirectional manipulation, where it serves as a highly adaptive framework of governance, and a network of solidarity.