Identity-Based Security Threats in a Globalized World: Focus on Islam

Aydin M., Acikmese S.

ULUSLARARASI ILISKILER-INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS, vol.5, no.18, pp.197-214, 2008 (SSCI) identifier identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 5 Issue: 18
  • Publication Date: 2008
  • Journal Name: ULUSLARARASI ILISKILER-INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
  • Journal Indexes: Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus, TR DİZİN (ULAKBİM)
  • Page Numbers: pp.197-214
  • Keywords: Security, Islam, Civilization, Globalization, Identity, ETHNIC-CONFLICT, COLD-WAR
  • Ankara University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

This article analyzes ethnic, religious, and civilizational dimensions of identity-based security threats and their link with globalization, with a specific focus on the connection between Islam as a basis for group identity and Islam as a threat. Even though, Islam sometimes perceived as a threat by Western world mainly for historical reasons, this article suggests that an 'Islamic threat' based on a Huntingtonian understanding of a civilizational identity is a myth. Nevertheless, it also argues that some radical and extremist groups, imagining identities based on Islam as a religion, might pose threats to security at the national, regional or global levels.