Bhutto's Assassination and An Unstable World

Benazir Bhutto was assassinated this past week. Pakistan is in turmoil. Was her killing a surprise? Unfortunately not. Chaos and conflict are rife in that country, she herself took a bold and strong stand against the Islamists, and she made herself very accessible to an assassin by standing up in her protected vehicle, although even had she been inside it the suicide bomber might still have succeeded. It appears that an Islamic extremist carried out the attack but nothing is clear at this point other than it further destabilizes a country critical in the fight against the Taliban and Al Qaida.

Having lived through the Cold War, I do not find a world in turmoil to be something new. But the rise of Muslim fanatics and an organization, Al Qaida, or organizations not directly tied to one or more particular nation states does appear to be something fairly new during this historical period. And at least some aspects of the fanaticism are not confined to the terrorists but appear to have a popular following amongst many of the people in various Muslim countries. Witness the hatred and hostility that was directed toward the British school teacher who bowed to the wishes of her class in Sudan to name a teddy bear after the Prophet. Some among the general populace wanted her killed. Fortunately the regime bowed to Western pressure and "world opinion" and released her. Then, too, it was not long ago when there were mass demonstrations in Muslim countries after Western newspapers ran cartoons that were seen by Muslims as ridiculing their religion. The extent of the reaction among Muslims, in terms of its intensity and demands for revenge, has been scary. It certainly suggests the deep hold that religion still has in the Muslim world, both as a religion and as a source of identification.

The continuing significance and power of Islam and the challenge posed to world and regional stability is also reflected in the emergence of Hamas in Palestine. After years of opposition to Israel's right to exist from a primarily secular Yasir Arafat and Fatah, there was hope that extremist sentiments were giving way to more pragmatic perspectives. But Hamas has emerged to capture public sentiment and to reassert an intense religious-based opposition to a Jewish state. The prospects of peace remain ever, if not forever, dim. Now it isn't clear to what extent Muslim fanaticism, in terms of a virulent anti-Western view of the world, is taking hold in Pakistan. There have always been such currents but most Western observers have felt, whether justified or not, that the predominant Pakistani mood was more moderate. We shall see.