Risks
&
Opportunities
Risks & Opportunities
A
World
in
Ferment
A World in Ferment
Islam, Islamism
and Islamophobia
Resources
Website
www.Josephcamilleri.org
2
Resources
The Oxford Research Group (ORG) is a leading independent
think-tank that has been influential for 30 years in pioneering
the idea of sustainable approaches to security as an alternative
to violent global confrontation, through original research, wideranging dialogue, and practical policy recommendations.
http://www.oxfordresearchgroup.org.uk/middle_east
Resources
The International Crisis Group is an independent,
non-profit, non-governmental organisation
committed to preventing and resolving deadly conflict.
http://www.crisisgroup.org/en/regions/middle-east-north-africa.aspx
Islam
in the World
Spread of Islam
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFSin5Gctv8
Islam Today
Size of Major Religious Groups
Islam & Christianity
Branches of Islam
Islam is no monolith
Salafism
Sufism
Greatness of
Islamic Civilisation
Islamic Contributions
to Science & Technology
Early Islamic teaching encouraged the pursuit of all knowledge
We read in the Hadith (sayings of the Prophet Muhammad):
 He who pursues the road of knowledge, Allah will direct to the road of
Paradise…
 The scholar’s ink is holier that the martyr’s blood…
Arabic became the international language of scholarship
Muslims translated important works from ancient Greece and Egypt
Huge libraries were established in the great metropolitan centres of
Baghdad, Cairo & Damascus
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qL41gX0fJng
How Islamic inventors
changed the world
From coffee to cheques and the three-course meal, the Muslim
world has given us many innovations that we take for granted in
daily life.
Paul Vallely nominates 20 of the most influential Muslim
inventions
- and identifies the men of genius behind them
The Independent 11 March 2006
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/how-islamicinventors-changed-the-world-469452.html?printService=print
Hypostyle Hall of the Great Mosque of Córdoba, Spain
Begun 786, doubled in area in the 10th century to 585 x 410 feet
with 1,200 columns supporting horseshoe arches, patterned with coloured marbles and other stones.
Folio from a Qur'an manuscript
13th–14th century Spain
Tughra of Sultan Sulaiman the Magnificent
16th century (Istanbul)
The Eavesdropper,
ca. 1430; Timurid period (1370-1507) – Afghanistan
The Feast of Sada
ca. 1520–22 – Safavid period (1501-1722)
Mantiq al-tair (The Language of the Birds)
ca. 1600 – Safavid period (1501-1722) Isfahan, Iran
The Great Mosque of Damascus
The House of Bijapur
ca. 1680 ’Adil Shahi period (1490-1686) Deccan, Bijapur, India
Calligraphy, Iran, second half 19th century
Xian Great Mosque
Taj Mahal, 1630-1653
Islamic tomb in walled garden built for Mughal Emperor‘s Wife
Agra (seat of Mughal Empire
The Haram Sharif Grand Mosque in Mecca
Islam’s
Contemporary Assets
Proved oil reserves at end 2013
From: BP Statstical Review of World Energy 2014
Reserves to Production (R/P) Ratios – Years
Major Oil movements 2014
in millions of tons
Choke Points
The Muslim world borders or encompasses key
choke points around the world, including:
Strait of Gibraltar
The Dardanelles and the Bosphorus
The Suez Canal
Bab el Mandeb
The Strait of Hormuz
The Strait of Malacca
Straits contained within Indonesian archipelago
Bab el Mandeb
Strait of Hormuz
Southeast Asia
Middle East:
A Tragedy in Six parts

Conflict / War

Great Power
Military
Intervention

Repression

Fundamentalism

Terrorism / War
on Terror

Refugee Crisis
. . . an unending list of conflicts
Conflicts
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Jordan-Syria tensions
Black September (1970)
North Yemen Civil War (1962–1970)
The Cyprus dispute
Lebanese civil war (1975–1990)
Libya-Egypt conflict
Iraq-Kuwait clashes (1967-1991)
The Iran–Iraq War (1980-1988)
Gulf War and aftermath (1990-1991)
Iraq War (2003-)
Libya conflict ( 2011-)
Syria conflict (2011-)
Turkey-Kurdish conflict
Yemen conflict
Arab-Israeli conflict
1948
Arab-Israeli War
1956
Suez War
1967
Six Day War
1969-1970
War of Attrition
1973
Yom Kippur War
1982
Lebanon War
1987-1993
First Intifada
1982-2000
South Lebanon
conflict
2000-2007
al-Aqsa Intifada
2006
Lebanon War
2008-2009
Israel-Gaza conflict
2014
Gaza Conflict
Refugee
Crisis in
Europe
Refugee Crisis in Europe
Refugee Crisis in Europe
Muslim Grievances against the West
Support for Israel
Depressed economic conditions
Support for corrupt and authoritarian regimes
Affront to religious sensibilities
West’s indifference to / ignorance of the past greatness of
Islamic civilization
Military intervention on Muslim soil
Treatment of Muslim minorities in the West