The Long Struggle: The Muslim World's Western Problem

Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and veil clad women in the West who see integration as a dirty word, why do Muslims seem to oppose absolutely every facet of Western life?

After 10 years working as a journalist in the Middle East and having spent his childhood growing up in the Muslim community in the West, Amil Khan looks at the West's rise to global dominance and how it is portayed in the Western media. Amil explains how a shell shocked Muslim world struggled for over a century between emulation and rejection of the West while international events continued to stoke anger among people who were forced to give up the wealth and global influence they felt was their birth right.

But it's not going to continue like that, Amil argues. The forces unleashed by the 9/11 attacks and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have forced Muslims to snap out of their dysfunctional relationship with the West. Muslims are finding that Western power is not all conquering and those who present themselves as polar opposites to all things Western are not necessarily Islamic. As the struggle ends, the opportunity to build a new relationship arises.

Author(s): | Amil Khan |

Amil Khan started working as a journalist with a small English-language newspaper in Cairo called the Middle East Times. He then moved to Reuters news agency, covering political scandals, wars and economic meltdown across the Middle East. Amil later returned to London and presented documentaries for the BBC and Channel 4, investigating Muslim extremists and going undercover to expose racist violence on housing estates.

Amil is working on a project in Pakistan that aims to challenge the religious legitimacy claimed by extremists. He also writes for the influential US foreign policy blog Abu Muqawama which is hosted by the Center for New American Security (CNAS) and writes occasionally for various publications, including the Guardian's Comment is Free and Foreign Policy magazine.