Valdai Club

On November 24, 2015 the Valdai Discussion Club and Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC) presented the Valdai Club analytical paper "The Islamic State: An Alternative Statehood?" written by Vasily Kuznetsov, Director of the Center for Arab and Islamic Studies, Institute of Oriental Studies at the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Opening the presentation, Research Director of the Valdai Discussion Club and editor in chief of the Russia in Global Affairs journal Fyodor Lukyanov pointed out that "something is going on now in the Middle East with great consequences that the experts are only beginning to realize."

Vasily Kuznetsov stressed that "it is very important to try to understand what the "Islamic State" really is, whether it was an attempt to create an alternative statehood, or simply a result of the chaos." "National states in the East are today in crisis. Either they will overcome the crisis or come to complete absence of any statehood, whatever it may be. There is also a third option - an alternative statehood. Over the last century such a model was offered in the Middle East several times, but it never went beyond theory, "- he said.

In connection with the "Islamic State" there are two main problems. It is a problem of interpretation of what they offer. It would be logical to allocate the basic theories around which ISIS is built. These theories are typical for the Arab world. For example, why Ummah is not a nation. The problem is that such ideologies may sound beautiful and poetic, but in reality they are faced with a partially modernized society. The second problem is the fragmentation of society. Modernization only enhances this process. "There is a huge amount of dissonance between tradition and modernity, and so on ", - the expert added.

One more problem is the imbalance of institutions. "One man said that there (in ISIS) he could find freedom and justice. It seems that such a notion of freedom and justice is possible for a period of expansion and war, when the state itself is not necessary. And when the war is presumably over, this structure will have to carry out functions of the state. There are no other tools, they do not exist. Nevertheless, it (ISIS) is perceived by some residents of the region as an authentic model "- Kuznetsov said.

Vladimir Sazhin, Senior Researcher of the Institute of Oriental Studies noted that "the analytical paper not only tells us about interesting issues, but also poses new ones."

He recalled the experience of the Iranian Islamic Republic nation-building. "Islamic Republic of Iran exists already for 30 years on the basis of theoretical works of Ayatollah Khomeini. Being a man who denied the general concept of the nation, he was building an Islamic state, which in the long term was to unite all Muslims. This Shiite base is the core which was to be an example for other Islamic regions. The experience of state-building in Iran became indicative in the Muslim world. It is quite different in structure from many Islamic countries, but the Islamic essence remains, "- he said.