The Challenge of Islamists (2006/07)

 Meetings & Reports

Group Leader:
Dr. Muriel Asseburg

Key SWP Participants:
Christian Wagner

Annette Weber

Eva Wegner

 Publications

Outline of the Project:

  The idea of the project is to

1. concentrate on the relevance of Islamist actors as well as governments' policies towards them for peaceful transformation of political conflicts / conflict management in key Muslim countries,
2. to assess transatlantic differences in views, approaches, and political practice both with regards to Islamist actors and governments in these countries,
3. as well as to find out where policies should be coordinated or where there is space for cooperation.

Preliminary questions for case studies :

1. The relevance of Islamist actors for stability

• What is the state of the state? (stability vs. fragmentation, armed conflict)
• What is the spectrum of relevant actors - Islamists and others? (armed wings, their relative strenght / power base, agenda towards the state)
• How can the relation between government / regime and Islamist actors be described? (repression, cooptaion, integration, or else)
• What is the relation between militant and moderate Islamists? How does the integration of some Islamist forces (if applicable) impact on other Islamists?
• What role do "official" Islam and religious authorities play?
• What impact to transnational Islamist networks / organisations have?

2. European and US policies towards Islamist actors and governments

• What are European (EU or, if applicable, important member states) and US approaches and policies?
• What are the decisive factors in shaping these approaches and policies?
• What are the repercussions of European and US policies for the peaceful transformation of political conflicts / conflict management? What other side effects do they have?
• What is the scope of action that external actors have in conflict management / transformation?
  

3. EU-US coordination, division of labor, cooperation?

The project will run from January 2007 to mid-October 2007 and will embrace the following activities:

1. a preparatory workshop at SWP held on March 8
2. a workshop with the core group from SWP and USIP in Washington on April 27
3. a conference with the core group, additional researchers from SWP and USIP, other academics from the US and Europe as well as the policy community, taking place in September 2007 in Berlin
4. a publication with selected short, policy-oriented contributions addressing key countries and main conclusions by SWP, USIP and other participants by mid-October 2007
5. a presentation at the GMF premises in Washington by the team leaders of the publication in November 2007