Radical Islamism

From Citizendium, the Citizens' Compendium

Radical Islamism is a Western concept, but refers to both violent and political activities to replace democratic government with theocratic government ruling by Shar'ia. It does not equate to terrorism, but is an effort to build long-term structures. The term appeared in the 9-11 Commission Report: "radical ideological movement (commonly known as Islamism or radical Islam) in the Islamic world ... which has spawned terrorist groups and violence across the globe."

Fighting radical Islamism does not equate to fighting a religion,^[1] although radicals often attempt to paint Western efforts in those terms, and Islamophobic rhetoric may give that impression. Anti-religious rhetoric, indeed, hurts the broad area of information operations as a part of grand strategy against actual threats.

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