IDEOLOGICAL NARRATIVES OF THE CONFLICT BETWEEN THE WESTERN AND MUSLIM WORLDS BETWEEN 2001–2003

Abstract

The article analyzes the narratives of the conflict between Western and Islamic civilization. The conflict between these two civilizations has a long history. The confrontation between Christianity and Islam began in the 7’th century with the expansion of Islam beyond Arabia. The conflict between Islamic civilization on the one hand and Christian civilization on the other continues to this day. Between 2001 and 2003, the conflict between the two civilizations intensified. This conflict between the West and the Islamic world became the starting point for the development of the conflict, which became a partial cause of the Arab Spring and chaos in the Middle East, which led to a long-term destabilization of the region, coup d’état and civil wars. Also, these reasons led to the beginning of the migration crisis in 2015. The study was conducted on the basis of a systematic analysis of historical events. The initial stage of the fight against international Islamic terrorism by the United States of America and its allies is analyzed. The speeches of the President of the United States, George W. Bush, Usama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein are analyzed. The analysis showed that the US used the crusade against the forces of evil narrative to describe military operations against Afghanistan and Iraq. Thus, the US government called the war on terrorism a crusade. In response, Osama bin Laden stated that Allah attacked evil, meaning an attack on the US and the Western world. In his speeches, there is a narrative of the struggle of the Islamic world against the Christian one. The same narrative is found in the speeches of the President of Iraq, Saddam Hussein. The study showed that religious narratives are used from the West and the Muslim world. There is a confrontation between two civilizations, on the one hand Christian and Islamic. If we consider this conflict from the point of view of the conflict of civilizations, then we see that it has a thousand-year history. Also, from the rhetoric of the West, the Islamic world is presented as a world of terrorism. From the side of the Islamic world, in their rhetoric, the West is presented as an enemy and an occupier of the Islamic world and individual Muslim countries.