Islamic Caliphate? Never Happen.

Okay, via Hugh Hewitt, the Christian Science Monitor has an article about the re-emerging idea of a unifying Caliphate. The article says, in part:

It's a simple and seductive idea that analysts believe may someday allow the group to rival existing Islamic movements, topple the rulers of Middle Eastern nations, and undermine those seeking to reconcile democracy and Islam and build bridges between East and West.

"A few years ago people laughed at them," says Zeyno Baran, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and the leading expert on Hizb ut-Tahrir. "But now that [Osama] bin Laden, [Abu Musab al-] Zarqawi, and other Islamic groups are saying they want to recreate the Caliphate, people are taking them seriously."

Even more moderate Muslim groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt pay lip-service to the ideal of reestablishing the Caliphate, leaving less ideological space for Muslims who want to move toward Western models of democracy.

"The Caliphate is a rallying point between the radicals and the more moderate Islamists," says Stephen Ulph, a senior fellow at the Jamestown Foundation. "The idea of a government based on the Caliphate has a historical pedigree and Islamic legitimacy that Western systems of government by their very nature do not have."

Bottom line... the Muslim world is extremely fractured. Muslims are their own worst enemy. Racism is rampant. When you go to a McDonalds in the Gulf, who waits on you? Philipinos or Pakistanis. Do they enjoy any protections? Nope. They are clearly third class residents (note that I didn't say citizens). All the non-Arab states are expected to toe the line, but Arabs fight amongst themselves unlike any other culture that I've seen. For context, I assert that Arabs are typically more educated, than say, your typical African (who are also good at infighting). For a civilization that can rightly claim to be the cradle of civilization, they are surprisingly stupid in their ability to unite.

The ONLY thing that they all have in common is Islam... and there are, of course, a cornucopia of flavors of Islam. The chance that Muslims will all unite under a Caliph is laughable to anyone who even remotely understands middle eastern culture. In short, much ado about nothing. That is no reason, however, not to be constantly vigilent for "Dhimmitude."