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| Volume XII, Summer 2005, Number 2 |
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| EXCERPT: The Organization of the Islamic Conference: Sharing an Illusion |
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| Shahram Akbarzadeh and Kylie Connor |
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Dr. Akbarzadeh is a senior lecturer in global politics, and Ms. Connor is a PhD scholar, both at the School of Political and Social Inquiry, Monash University, Australia. Among Dr. Akbarzadeh's latest publications are Uzbekistan and the United States: Authoritarianism, Islamism and Washington's Security Agenda (London: Zed Books, 2005) and Islam and the West: Reflections from Australia (Sydney: UNSWPress, 2005). Ms. Connor researches Islamic militancy in the West.1
Relations between the Muslim
world and the West have been
fraught with tension and contra-
dictions in recent decades. The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, brought them spectacularly onto the front pages of every newspaper. In subsequent years, Muslim groups and states have tried to make sense of the changed international setting. The U.S.-led war on terror has placed the Muslim world in a defensive position. The implied link between Islam and terrorism has caused indignation among Muslims and entrenched their distrust of the United States. Muslim disenchantment with the superpower often has domestic implications. Islamic radicalism, which has gained wide international attention, is first and foremost a domestic challenge to the authority of Muslim regimes. It is in this context of international fixation on terrorism and domestic disenchantment with the status quo that the Organization of the Islamic Conference is carving out a role for itself. The OIC's record in the past few years offers a snapshot of the way in which governments are navigating these challenges.
The OIC lays claim to the mantle of Islamic legitimacy and presents itself as working for the benefit of the transnational umma (community of believers). The terminology employed by the OIC points to a transnational Islamic identity. However, the organization is effectively constrained by the sanctity of state sovereignty. That principle has been enshrined in the OIC charter and has provided the organization with an operational framework that is more restrictive than the ideal of Muslim unity and interests. The organization brings together 57 Muslim states as diverse as Indonesia and Morocco, plus a number of states with significant Muslim minorities, such as Russia and India. The unifying aim for the organization is to protect Islam, under the assumption that the common bond of faith generates shared interests. It will be argued in this paper that this assumption is highly questionable. The history of the OIC and its performance provides evidence that could contradict its claim to represent the interests of Muslims on the international stage.
1 We wish to thank Julie McKay for her extensive research and contribution to this paper.
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