英文摘要

Abstracts

03IslamicExtremism:Attributes,OriginsandPredicaments

AbstractIslamism has become an increasingly worth noting problem on international political stage. This article is mainly divided into three parts to analyze Islamic Extremism in the international arena. The first part analyzes the main features of Islamic extremism: the global scope of the activities, the extremity of policy advocating, and cruelty of implementation means. The second part highlights the main causes of extremism: the religious conservatism provides ideological source for the extremism; economic marginalization and poverty situation are the economic origins of extremism; the hegemonism and power politics are the external sources of extremism. The third part discusses the effect and prospects of extremism. This article argues that extremism is unable to accomplish anything but liable to spoil everything. In the long run, Islamic extremism will not easily withdraw from the historical stage, and international community should keep vigilant about it.

KeyWordsIslamic Extremism; Islamic World; “Islamic State”; International Order

AuthorTIAN Wenlin, Associate Professor, Middle East Institute, China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations.

18TheHistoricalRootsofIslamicExtremismandEvolutionofJihadiSalafism

AbstractThe dramatic rise of “Islamic State” as a force has proven to be one of the most important determinants of global geopolitical development, whereas the Jihadi Salafism is the ideological root of Islamic violence. To defeat “Islamic State”, it is imperative to understand the emergence and evolution of its ideology. Only by comprehending the interior logic of radical Islam, can the exterior rationale for radical Islamic organizations be fully understood. The inception of radical Islamism has its ground and environment, the study on the emergence and development of Jihadi Salafism is conductive to eradicating the ideological roots of radical Islamism. In essence, the Jihadi Salafism is a trinity of the following Islamic thoughts: Wahhabism originated from Saudi Arabia, “Pan-Islamic movement” advocated by Islamic modernists, and the exaggerated, absolute and instrumentalized explanations of classic theological thought “Takfir”.

KeyWordsJihadi Salafism; Radical Islamism; Pan-Islamism; “Takfir”; “Islamic State”

AuthorCUI Shoujun, Associate Professor, School of International Studies, Renmin University of China; Research Fellow, National Institute of Development and Strategy, Renmin University of China.

31ConfrontationandViolence:IslamicExtremism’sFeaturesRevisited

AbstractExisting discussion on Islamic extremism has not transcended the traditional paradigm which confuses Islamic doctrine, moderate political ideas and practical political practice. Comparing the ideas of Islamic extremist political thinkers and Islamic moderate political thinkers based on Islamic political thoughts, is of great practical significance to clarify the concept and characteristics of Islamism. By analyzing the main opinions of four important Islamic political thinkers of Egypt, this paper argues that the core features of the Islamic extremism are its highlighting the confrontation between the “Allah sovereignty” (hakimiyyah) via and the secular world. The violence they encourage is the important mean to achieve this goal. All discussions in this regard, should define the Islamic extremism based on the “confrontation” they encouraged and the “violence” they insisted.

KeyWordsIslamic Extremism; Moderate Islam; Sayyid Qutb; Muhammad abd-al-Salam Faraj; Hassan al-Hudaybi; Yusuf al-Qaradawi

AuthorWANG Jin, Ph.D. Candidate, School of Political Science, University of Haifa; Research Fellow, Syria Research Center, Northwest University.

44SalafisminSub-SaharanAfrica:Diffusion,RadicalizationandImpacts

AbstractThe three movements,Murabit,MuwahhidandFulaniJihad, have laid ideological foundation for Salafism’s spread in Sub-Saharan Africa. The spread of Salafism in early stage was with the strong characteristics of Scholasticism, and the strength and breadth then were limited. However, since the 1970s, the means of the spread of Salafism in Sub-Saharan Africa have become increasingly diversified. In this period, with the propagation carrier of Jihadists, the radical Salafism has been infiltrated in the Sahel region and surrounding areas, which has not only undermined the religious pattern with the Sufism as the mainstream in Sub-Saharan Africa, but also consumed the of demographic dividend in Sub-Saharan Africa when it dismantling the national mechanism in the region. Most of all, the social control which created by some radical organizations, with the propaganda of the ideas “Ummah” and “Caliphate”, have challenged the nation-state construction in Sub-Saharan Africa where the difficulties have already existed .

KeyWordsSub-Saharan; Salafism; Radicalism; ‘Arch of Instability’

AuthorsWANG Tao, Associate Professor, Centre of African Studies, Yunnan University; NING Yu, lecturer, History Department, Xiangtan University.

59TheEvolutionofBokoHaramandNigeria’sCounterTerrorismPolicies

AbstractIn recent years, the rise of religious extremism and terrorism around the world has triggered deep concerns of the international community. A case in point is the Islamic insurgent group Boko Haram in Nigeria. Combining religious extremism and terrorism together, Boko Haram has posed tremendous threats to Nigeria, the most populous country and the largest economy in Africa, and to her neighbors as well. The rise and spread of Boko Haram in northern Nigeria has much to do with the deep historical accumulation of Islamism and modern prosperity in the region. The lack of effective governance and the long-term accumulation of livelihood problems in Nigeria, as well as the infiltration of international extremist forces, have inspired the evolution of Boko Haram. Since Muhammadu Buhar’s inauguration, Nigeria’s countermeasures against Boko Haram acquired some successes. However, to a large extent, the final settlement of the Boko Haram issue depends on whether the social and economic development in the Northern Nigeria may improve and whether more jobs for the youth could be created. Meanwhile, regional and international anti-terror cooperation is also earnestly needed.

KeywordsNigeria; Boko Haram; Religious Extremism; Muhammadu Buhari

AuthorLI Wengang, PhD., Associate Professor, Institute of West Asian and African Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

74“TheBeltandRoad”ConstructioninSaudiArabia:Developments,RisksandChina’sCountermeasures

AbstractSaudi Arabia is considered as one of China’s key partners in promoting “The Belt and Road” Initiative in the Middle East. In recent years, the dramatic shifts in Saudi’s internal and external policies have increased potential risks to the Kingdom: political uncertainty mounts given the reshuffling of inner internal power structure and political centralization of King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman; its economic transformations and reforms are hindered by structural challenges and institutional blockages; indigenous terrorism and Houthi militias-led cross-border rocket attacks have aggravated its domestic security; backlash of religious conservative forces and the spread of religious extremists are increasing social instability and security pressure inside the Kingdom. In this context, to promote “The Belt and Road” construction in Saudi Arabia, China needs further efforts to ensure policy continuity in bilateral cooperation, balance its relations with both Saudi Arabia and its regional rival Iran. Meanwhile, China has to make adaptation to Saudi’s radical economic transformation while better synergize development strategies between the two states, and to prevent terrorism and Houthis-led attacks from threatening Chinese citizens and companies in Saudi Arabia.

KeyWordsSaudi Arabia; “The Belt and Road” Initiative; Political Risks; Economic Risks; Security Risks

AuthorBAO Chengzhang, Ph.D., Associate Professor, the Middle East Studies Institute, Shanghai International Studies University.

90TheHistoricalRootsofSaudiArabia’sLegitimacyCrisisandItsRecentEvolution

AbstractWahhabism and US instrumental roles have been institutionalized as two major pillars to the Saudi state-building. The polarity between the two pillars poses an innate regime legitimacy deficiency and a big obstacle to Saudi political evolution. Both liberal reform and Wahhabi governance attempted by the Saudi government encountered impasse, failing to address the structural imbalance within the establishment. Sole oil income has become the only effective tool to moderate the relations between the state and the society while upholding the established institutions. The combination of a soaring population and increasing expectation for participation blunted the oil income as a governance tool while adding to the risk of social revolution. Both regime pillars failed to respond effectively to the “Arab Spring”, power consolidation by the House of Saud was left to be the last resort. The radical reorientation of both domestic and regional policies orchestrated by Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman is not only a reflection of the radicalization of Saudi youth, but a fresh attempt to address the root cause of the regime crisis which is necessary for all round social and economic reform.

KeyWordsSaudi Arabia; Regime Legitimacy Crisis; Oil Economy; Mohammed bin Salman

AuthorZHANG Weiting, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Shanghai Institutes for International Studies.

105Saudi-IranianRelationsaftertheIraqWar

AbstractAfter the Iraq War, the original geo-politics and balance of powers in the Middle East were broken. To further strive for regional dominance, regional powers, Saudi Arabia and Iran, have carried out intense competitions. The development and evolution of the relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran are based on six major existing issues, which are respectively the Shi’ite issues in Saudi Arabia, the Gulf and Iraq issues, the Lebanese political situation and the Palestine-Israel issue, the Syrian civil war, the Yemeni Houthis and the Iranian nuclear issue. The confrontation is as principal and the cooperation is as supplement, which is the general characteristics of this bilateral relationship. The level of confrontation and its limits of cooperation will change in accordance with different circumstances, which adds uncertainties to the relationship. At the same time, the policies of great powers, especially the Middle East policies of the US and Russia, are also important variables that affect the relationship between Saudi Arabia and Iran.

KeyWordsThe Iraq War; Saudi Arabia; Iran; Geopolitics

AuthorHAN Xiaoting, Ph.D., Lecturer, Department of History, Culture and Tourism, Shaanxi Xueqian Normal University.