In the field of political science, the attitudes of any states are being understood through the political ideology which fits with these attitudes or politics. Almost all of them are described as an “ism” such as capitalism, socialism, liberalism or realism. They emerged in Europe and had been exported to the rest of the world. Due to the fact that western ideological penetration on social, political and economic structure of modern Middle Eastern countries new ideologies were seen and employed as a mean of legitimizing their political actions and rule, such as liberalism, constitutionalism or nationalism. From the beginning point of modern Middle East to present, several political ideologies have been prevailing in the region; initially nationalism and then nationalist socialism, and eventually Islamism with its soft or liberal version, respectively. Yet, the impact of Islam in the region on politics has been neglected until 1970`s when petty Islamic groups have begun to blossom in almost every Middle Eastern country. That constituted a tendency among academicians, politicians, and economists interested in politics and international relations to pay attention on the influence of Islam on politics. Contrary to common knowledge, the seeds of the most of contemporary ideologies ranging from radical nationalism, socialism, Islamism (Abu Rabi, 1996), constitutionalism to democracy and their adherents have already been experienced in the last century of the Empire. What prevents scholars to realize this ideological diversification is that all of supporters of these ideologies presented as solution to the sickness of the Empire had accommodated within the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP, afterwards).
Published in Political Reflection Magazine Vol. 4 No. 3
