{"id":717,"date":"2009-10-10T18:22:00","date_gmt":"2009-10-10T12:52:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mohamediqbalp.wordpress.com\/2009\/10\/10\/lisbon-treaty-referendum-is-the-european-union-an-example-for-the-islamic-world\/"},"modified":"2009-10-10T18:22:00","modified_gmt":"2009-10-10T12:52:00","slug":"lisbon-treaty-referendum-is-the-european-union-an-example-for-the-islamic-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/venusimportexport.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/2009\/10\/10\/lisbon-treaty-referendum-is-the-european-union-an-example-for-the-islamic-world\/","title":{"rendered":"Lisbon Treaty Referendum: Is the European Union an example for the Islamic World?"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1 class=\"title\">Lisbon Treaty Referendum: Is the European Union an example for the Islamic World?<\/h1>\n<div class=\"node\">\n<div class=\"submitted\">Submitted by admin3 on 9 October 2009 &#8211; 9:31pm.<\/div>\n<div class=\"taxonomy\">\n<ul class=\"links inline\">\n<li class=\"first taxonomy_term_6\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.twocircles.net\/news\/articles\" rel=\"tag\" title=\"Articles\" class=\"taxonomy_term_6\">Articles<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"taxonomy_term_1\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.twocircles.net\/news\/indian-muslim\" rel=\"tag\" title=\"Indian Muslim\" class=\"taxonomy_term_1\">Indian Muslim<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"last taxonomy_term_4\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.twocircles.net\/news\/muslim-world-news\" rel=\"tag\" title=\"Muslim World News\" class=\"taxonomy_term_4\">Muslim World News<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"content\">\n<p>By Yamin Zakaria<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">Lisbon Treaty established on 13th of December 2007,<br \/>\nis another step towards cementing European unity. Almost all the member<br \/>\nstates of the European Union have ratified the treaty through the<br \/>\nparliamentary process. Ireland is the only country to have done this<br \/>\nthrough a referendum. Once the treaty comes into effect, Europe will<br \/>\nhave its first President, Tony Blair looks set to occupy that position.<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">It all started back in 1957 with the treaty of Rome;<br \/>\nsix European countries formed the EEC (European Economic Unity). The<br \/>\nsmall economic club has now increased to 27 member states, which is<br \/>\nincreasingly asserting itself beyond an economic entity. It is only a<br \/>\nmatter of time that we may see a call for the creation of a European<br \/>\narmy, controlled by the European Parliament, headed by the new<br \/>\nPresident of Europe. To a spectator, it seems they are moving<br \/>\ninexorably towards a Federal Europe or some kind of super state. Is the<br \/>\nnew Roman Empire on the rise again? Many would view this power as a<br \/>\npositive force to counterbalance the negative situation of having a<br \/>\nlone super power.<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">Only 70 years ago, Europe was at war, and despite<br \/>\ntheir historical animosity, diversity of language, culture and race,<br \/>\nthey are gradually moving forward with greater unification. One can<br \/>\nargue the formation of European unity has been one of the main factors<br \/>\nthat have prevented wars breaking out in the continent. This period of<br \/>\nstability is slightly tainted by the limited air raids carried out over<br \/>\nSerbia by the NATO forces. However, this is seen in the fringes of<br \/>\nEurope, and hardly constituted a full-scale war.<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">Rational justification for unity is self-evident. It<br \/>\ngives more strength by pooling the resources of various nations. A<br \/>\nunified European economy is one of the largest economies in the world<br \/>\nthat is competing with the US and the Japanese economy. The Euro looks<br \/>\nset to replace the US Dollar as the dominant currency.<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">The tide of European unity is opposed by those who<br \/>\nare concerned about sovereignty of their nation. The counter argument<br \/>\nis the old notion of sovereignty of territorial or national integrity<br \/>\nis outdated, has to be modified to conform to the globalised world.<br \/>\nIncreasingly the nation\u2019s ability to determine its own economic or<br \/>\npolitical policy is being limited by the rising tide of globalisation.<br \/>\nSovereignty is redefined as the ability of a nation to determine the<br \/>\nwelfare of its own citizen.<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">As an example, the European powers have collectively<br \/>\nrelinquished some level of political and economical sovereignty for the<br \/>\nincreasing collective benefit. Hence, if the UK were to pull out from<br \/>\nthe EU it would be more sovereign to determine its economic and<br \/>\npolitical policies internally, but its influence would be reduced<br \/>\nsignificantly in the international arena. Consequently, this would harm<br \/>\nthe welfare of its own citizen significantly. If it loses power and<br \/>\ninfluence, in effect it is losing real sovereignty.<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">Nation states are supposed to be inherently divisive<br \/>\nas each nation seeks to promote its interests. Yet, these European<br \/>\nstates have overcome these barriers and forge unity, propelled largely<br \/>\nby the mutual economic benefit, which is reinforced by cultural and<br \/>\npolitical cohesion brought through education, open debates and<br \/>\nlegislation.<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">Unity does not mean uniformity in every aspect.<br \/>\nDifferent nations within Europe maintain their cultural identity,<br \/>\nlanguage and religion. In this age, mass participation is a feature of<br \/>\nmost society; this implies unity should come from within through mutual<br \/>\nconsultation, rather than the imposition of force, like the good old<br \/>\ndays of Napoleon. European Union reflects that ethos, and it seems to<br \/>\nbe working well.<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">Many of the Muslim countries and the respective<br \/>\nminorities can learn from European countries like the UK, which has<br \/>\ndifferent nations (Scotland, Wales, Irish) flourishing within. The<br \/>\nminorities retain their cultural identity, there is no ban imposed on<br \/>\nthe Celtic or Cornish language or the Scottish Kilt. In fact, the<br \/>\ncentral government encourages all minorities, including the recent<br \/>\nmigrant populations to express their cultural identity; it adds<br \/>\ncharacter to the nation and enriches the culture.<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">The case for unification of the Islamic world is<br \/>\neven greater. Apart from the rational justification of increasing<br \/>\nmaterial benefit, there is a religious obligation to be unified. Our<br \/>\nvalues are identical, from Morocco to Indonesia. The cultural<br \/>\nsimilarities are stronger than our regional differences.<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">However, the Islamic world is more divided than ever<br \/>\nbefore, and to blame this entirely on the west is simply being in<br \/>\ndenial of our failure. We were colonised argument has passed its sell<br \/>\nby date. Other countries have made considerable progress since<br \/>\nindependence, whereas the Muslims countries are constantly falling<br \/>\nbehind.<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">Take the example of India and Pakistan (and<br \/>\nBangladesh), both countries have gained independence in 1947, yet India<br \/>\nhas made far more progression, despite having far greater levels of<br \/>\ndisparity in terms of language, race, religion and culture. To blame<br \/>\nthe British for the stagnation and corruption that exists within<br \/>\nPakistan and Bangladesh is ludicrous. Whenever, I have travelled<br \/>\nthrough these parts of the world, just the experience with the airport<br \/>\nofficials seeking bribes tells the story. When you peek under their<br \/>\ncover, you see nepotism and bribery is a way of life. There is no<br \/>\nevidence to suggest the west is dictating or influencing the Muslim<br \/>\ncountries to behave in this manner. Why should they?<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">Those who argue the absence of Caliphate is the<br \/>\nreason for our failure are missing the point. The progression does not<br \/>\nstart with the Caliphate but rather Caliphate would embody the result<br \/>\nof our progression, which should begin before that. The existence of<br \/>\nthe Caliphate should not be a prerequisite to have the basic level of<br \/>\ncivility and some level of progression even within secular<br \/>\ndictatorships or monarchs.<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">The stable European model and the volatile Islamic<br \/>\nworld shows, unity in the modern age has to be achieved gradually<br \/>\nthrough mutual consultation, rather than the imposition of force. It<br \/>\nhas to be cultivated in the minds of people. The various organisations<br \/>\nhave failed to create any form of unification, even in terms of close<br \/>\ncooperation between the various Islamic nations. There is deep-seated<br \/>\nracism amongst various racial groups; the Turks see themselves as<br \/>\nsuperior to Arabs, and the Arabs in turn looks towards the Pakistanis<br \/>\nwith disdain, and so on. The example of Iraq clearly illustrates this<br \/>\nfracture, each group based on racial and sectarian motive pursued its<br \/>\ninterests, and thus the war was lost even before the US invaded Iraq.<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">Even the smaller experiment of Arab nationalism has<br \/>\nfailed at every level because the same prejudice is replicated amongst<br \/>\nthe various Arab states. It is no secret, many of the Arab states are<br \/>\neager to delete the Palestine issue, rather than collectively confront<br \/>\nIsrael. All they can offer is some token economic aid to the<br \/>\nPalestinians after watching the routine Israeli massacres.<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">The world is moving on, but the Muslims seem to be<br \/>\nstuck in the past literally. You see the endless lectures of what the<br \/>\nMuslims achieved in the 12th century, failing to see the scientific<br \/>\nadvances made by the west in the last 500 years have left us behind in<br \/>\nanother galaxy!<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">\u2018Allah will never change the situation of a people unless they change what is within themselves\u2019 (Quran &#8211; 13:11)<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Lisbon Treaty Referendum: Is the European Union an example for the Islamic World? Submitted by admin3 on 9 October 2009 &#8211; 9:31pm. Articles Indian Muslim Muslim World News By Yamin Zakaria Lisbon Treaty established on 13th of December 2007, is another step towards cementing European unity. Almost all the member states of the European Union&hellip; <br \/> <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/venusimportexport.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/2009\/10\/10\/lisbon-treaty-referendum-is-the-european-union-an-example-for-the-islamic-world\/\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-717","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/venusimportexport.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/717","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/venusimportexport.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/venusimportexport.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/venusimportexport.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/venusimportexport.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=717"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/venusimportexport.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/717\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/venusimportexport.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=717"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/venusimportexport.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=717"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/venusimportexport.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=717"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}