Since the definition of the analytical framework of the term “jihadism” and its inscription in the annals of the history of international relations, the real reasons for the emergence of the acts to which it refers have not been elucidated until nowadays. While the United States of Zbigniew Brzeziński (architect of American strategy in Afghanistan and former national security advisor in 1998), Henry Kissinger (designer of “The Order of the World in 2016”), Samuel P. Huntington (designer of “The Clash of Civilizations”)» in 1993) and Francis Fukuyama (prophet of the “end of history” in 1992) took on the role of world policeman, the frame of reference of the concept “jihadism” defined and proposed to the rest of the world by the intellectuals of the White House is posterior to the scourges to which it relates. Brandishing the attacks of September 11 or “black September” for others as a benchmark for analyzing jihadism is an aberration and a stated desire to turn a blind eye to the darkest pages of the history of the industrial revolution. Because, as Jules Ferry said, “colonial policy is the daughter of industrial policy”. That is to say, the jihadist acts which we agree to call in other terms, terrorist acts were inscribed in the daily lives of other peoples on the part of the global West before the 11 September 2001. It is logical to define the term “jihadism” in a context other than religion, the establishment of an Islamic state or the reestablishment of a caliphate. Slavery, triangular trade/slave trade, colonialism, deterioration of terms of trade and neocolonialism best illustrate this trend in the history of international relations. It is therefore appropriate in this 21st century, characterized by the breakdown of the unipolar American-Western order, to include the term “jihadism” in a Sui generis approach in order to better prepare minds for the cardinal and pacifist values of multipolarism, which is the antipode of the unipolarism on which the power of the United States has been based since the fall of the Berlin Wall (1989) and the end of the Cold War (1991). The evidence of multipolarism is asserting itself at an increasingly accelerated pace and against which, the Westerners of NATO can only whine by calling the Russian Federation of the BRICS Alliance all the names.
This article aims to examine the contribution of Western democracy (I) to the spread of international jihadism (II).
I. The contribution of Western democracy to the birth of transnational jihadism
The declared desire of the United States and NATO to side with the primates, all human values contrary to those of the variable geometry of Western democracy of barbarians, is the real foundation of the birth of transnational jihadism. To better support this argument, it is appropriate to look at the use of democracy as an orthodox or unilinear pattern of development (A) and as an instrument of repression of peoples outside the Western geographical space (B).
A. Democracy as an orthodox scheme of development
If we stick to the minimum definition of democracy, which is “the exercise of power by the people through elected officials”, democracy might seem to be one of the best systems of global governance. Its use and imposition in the dynamics of the world scene as the only path to achieve development by the global West implies an unacknowledged policy. It is rather a westernization of the world than a democratization of the world. While each people identifies and recognizes itself by its cultural and civilizational identity, democracy as brandished by the West attacks people, thus leading to instability of national institutions. Hence, the rise in power of terrorist movements and the multiplication of centers of tension under the surveillance of defenders of Western democracy.
B. Democracy as an instrument of repression of people
The great distant and recent events which characterize the world scene demonstrate once again the responsibility of Western democracy in the political, social, political, economic and cultural instability of peoples. Immersed in globalization, which is similar to the Westernization of the world, civilizations resist the obscurantist forces which hide behind the wind of the democratization of international relations. It is to destroy this resistance of civilizations that the West camouflages itself behind terrorism, violent extremism and transnational organized crime while singing about democracy.
II. The contribution of Western democracy to the spread of transnational jihadism
The melody of democracy as the best system of governance and its use as a sine qua non condition for access to international finance is one of the driving causes of the spread of multifaceted jihadism on planet earth. Today, it is appropriate to focus on the impact of the use of democracy as an instrument in the service of the foreign policy of the United States of NATO (A) and as a justification for their military interventions in around the world (B).
A. Democracy as an instrument serving the foreign policy of the United States and NATO
For decades of reigning as high priests with the right to everything (including life and death) over the marginalized peoples of Africa, Asia and Latin America on the world stage, the United States of NATO have governed the world according to the rule of the jungle. Motivated and justified by the democracy that they themselves designed and transposed onto States, the violence and aggressiveness with which Westerners deal with the rest of the world are on a scale that is both slavery-like and colonialist. Willie Lynch era. This is why the repression of the September 2001 attacks in the United States led to the spread of terrorism throughout the world and its ramifications.
B. Democracy as a justification for military interventions by the United States and NATO
The number of countries destroyed and people whose lives are taken by the United States and NATO in the name of the famous democracy gives food for thought on the hidden motivations of their military interventions throughout the world. While waging war by proxy from Syria, Libya, Ukraine, Central African Republic, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and Palestine, previous military interventions by the collective West continue to generate devastating repercussions on the humanitarian, food and security levels in the areas where they were carried out. This makes international relations more and more aggressive, thus dangerously affecting the stability of the world scene. This analytical approach amounts to questioning the role of the United States in the dynamics of the international scene. Jihadism is spreading due to the arbitrary actions of the global West. The rest of the world must align behind BRICS to accelerate the consolidation of the just and multipolar world.
To close, it is important to mention that democracy, as imposed by the West, is rather a Westernization of the world than a democratization of it. Multipolarism has come to overthrow this arbitrarily imposed order in international relations and in the dynamics of the world scene. For good governance of international affairs, the rest of the world (non-Western people) must align behind BRICS. The subversive attempts of those nostalgic for the unipolar world to sabotage the emergence of the multipolar world are numerous and varied. The people of Africa, Asia and Latin America, oppressed and victims of the history of international relations, must boldly have the humility to dissociate themselves from the actions of the United States and NATO, which have not sowed only fear, terror and desolation in the world. Religion should not be the sole benchmark for analyzing jihadism. Because jihadism is other than religion for which it is important to make the jihadist responsible and not this one.
The era we are entering, which is that of Multipolarism, is promising for peace, justice and international solidarity!
Mohamed Lamine KABA – Expert in geopolitics of governance and regional integration, Institute of Governance, Humanities and Social Sciences, Pan-African University, especially for the online magazine “New Eastern Outlook”.
