The Revenge by the Disintegrated Empire

The Soviet Union was defeated. Its army humiliated and the superpower scattered like a pack of cards into smaller countries. It was one of the biggest earth-shaking events of the last century. It caused the collapse of the biggest espionage agency ever existed. It rendered the nuclear arsenal of the former superpower useless. It made millions of people unemployed. The world changed and the empire described by another empire as the evil empire collapsed. 

It all happened because the United States played an active role in the dismemberment of the rival superpower and used the occupation of Afghanistan as a pretext to establish its supremacy in world politics. 

Thousands of Afghans lost their lives, billions of dollars were spent to lure fighters from all over the world to Afghanistan to cause the worst humiliation to the Soviet Union. But who cares. Human life has always been the cheapest commodity in our world forever.
What, then, do you expect from those unemployed KGB operatives all over the world who lost their livelihood because of the US? What do you expect from those illegal weapon manufacturing units all over the world run by the former Soviet agents who lost their regular revenue? What do you expect the weapon experts to do with the unused Soviet arsenal?
In the eyes of an average Russian, the United States is the culprit. For KGB and the Soviet Army, the US is the one that caused their misery through disintegration.of their main employer, their national government. In a world where national and ethnic pride determine policies and political and social behavior of most people, it would be naive to think that the KGB would not strike back.

It has struck back in its own ways and those who understand the world of intelligence know exactly what has been going in our world today.
What is happening in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Syria or Pakistan and what would happen in other Middle Eastern countries as well as in Europe in years to come is the outcome of this revenge tactics on the part of a former superpower. 

Money can buy anything and former KGB players and their supporters are buying terrorists, anarchists, and war mongers. The intelligence agencies always operate through their henchmen. When the CIA worked in Afghanistan, it did not send its field officers to distribute money to Afghans directly. It worked through the government of Pakistan and several Islamic organizations to channel its funds and export its ideology. When the USA went into Iraq, its secret agencies worked through religious leaders from among Shias and Sunnis to run its operation. 

In Afghanistan, it was through the religious leaders that the CIA managed to develop an Islamic curriculum for schools opened for Afghan refugees in Pakistan and elsewhere. It was through religious scholars, the CIA worked to convince the masses that violence for the right cause is always justified and loved by the divine. Its scholars found religious texts to support this ideology.
Why, then, anyone would think that the nonexistent, but ever-present KGB would not use the same tactics in an improvised manner? Why do you think the Russians would not use ISIS, ISIL, Iran, Syria for their purposes? Why do you think the Russians would not exploit the prevailing conditions in the United States to create more chaos and fear and impact the forthcoming elections.
The Russian espionage is alive and well. Now one of our presidential aspirants has endorsed the Russian espionage and even encouraged, to actively spy on his rival, the Russians will feel bold to pursue their political goal. Their objective is to ensure that the US loses its edge as a superpower and suffers catastrophic economic and political disasters. If in this war, the Russians have to use Islam as a scapegoat, they would not hesitate. Why should they? When the CIA also used Islam and Muslims to pursue their political interests, Russians feel justified in following the lead. 

The Muslim political and religious leadership is myopic. It does not see anything beyond its own narrow ethnic, sectarian and selfish interests. It can sacrifice anything for its egoistic goals regardless of the price people might pay.
Let us be prepared for a long war that is much colder than the cold war and in this war of revenge, besides the US, Islam and Muslims would also be major casualties. The White Christian right wing evangelical establishment in the US and the West is not thinking beyond its racism and religious bigotry. It is willing to sacrifice its own freedom to ensure that non white, non Christians do not occupy positions of significance in world politics. Its endorsement of the Republican candidate is a testimony of its eagerness to commit suicide on the altar of hate.
The world is in a big mess and in the days, months and years to come, the mess would expand, creating destabilization in every society and community unless the people under a sincere and honest leadership emerge for the betterment of all and not just one nation and group. Welcome to Jahiliya (Days of Ignorance) when tribal, ethnic, cultural, religious and nationalist wars were justified to perpetuate the revenge, plunder and murder.

The Failed Coup and the Challenge of Erdogan

The failed coup in Turkey should not make people think that the danger is over. Those who wanted to replace President Erdogan and his party are still there in Turkey and they would do everything possible to destabilize the country. However the ball is in the court of the President and if he responds to the crisis in a magnanimous manner, he could turn the tables against his foes and create a democratic model that would be the envy of every country.
Rather than locking up all his foes, he needs to win them over to his vision of Turkey. He needs to initiate a dialogue with those who see his understanding of Islam irrelevant in Turkey and the modern world. Doubtlessly, Erdogan and his party are committed to Islam and aspire to present the country as a leading example of Islam to the world. There are certain areas where the vision that Erdogan has of Islam needs to be focused. He would have to prove that Turkey under his leadership is an open society that respects human rights and promotes peace and progress. He would have to set the example through concrete actions that science and technology are the foundations of emerging Turkey where corruption has no place. He would have to prove to the world that his country can give a balanced education system to the people that integrate science with the religious ethos and universal ethics.
In particular, the following major areas would deserve his utmost attention.
1. Emphasis on Islamic values should not lead him to deny non-Muslims their right to preach and practice their religion or no religion freely.
2. Women should not be forced into a lifestyle they do not want to identify with and their rights to seek equality in all spheres of life should be respected.
3. Moral values should not be imposed on those who do not believe in them.
4. Rather than reacting on the basis of political expediency, a principled position should be taken on matters of concerns to Turkey and the Muslim world. In other words, Turkey should emerge as a voice of decency and support for all those who are denied justice and equality regardless of their background.
5. Negotiations should open with Kurds and Armenians and other dissident groups to find a solution of the bitterness that has lingered long and caused tensions in the relationship.
6. An education system that integrates ethics with science and technology should be the foundation to lay the future social fabric of the country.
7. Peaceful opposition should be encouraged and those in power should always be ready to consult even their foes on matters of public interests.
8. Witch-hunt of those involved in the failed coup should be replaced with dialogue and reconciliation. Rather than turning Gulanists into enemies, efforts should be directed to secure their support for a unified Turkey with prosperity for all.
9. Better and stronger relations with neighbors should be the mainstay of Turkish policies as it would prevent possible incursion and infiltration.
10. Living conditions of people regardless of their social and religious background should be improved so that their basic needs are guaranteed.

What is an ideal society desired by the Divine?

People often talk about an ideal society based on their values, religious or otherwise. Jews talk about an ideal society where their Messiah would restore peace and prosperity, Christians talk about Jesus returning to establish the kingdom of God on earth, Muslims espouse the idea of a society based on the values revealed in the Quran and traditions promoted by the Prophet, Buddhists talk about a society where individuals will deliver them from the tribulations of pain and sufferings, Sikhs envision a society where differences of caste and race would no longer exist, atheists talk of a world where people will be free from the yoke of religion and exercise the free will the way they want and so on and so forth.

Every religious or irreligious community has its vision of a society, yet the reality is that no religious community has ever been able to recreate an environment that reflects its values in totality. On the contrary, the zealots in all communities have created conditions that contradict the basics of their own faith. There may be several factors for that, but the two main reasons are the differences among communities on the scope and dimensions of an ideal world and the differences several factions and sects have within each community on the definition of an ideal society. For instance, what is ideal for Muslims is not ideal for Christians and Jews and what is ideal within one group of Jews may not be ideal among other Jewish factions.

Logically speaking, all those who believe in the existence of God or gods, believe that there is one ultimate supreme power regardless of the varying definitions they give for that being. Yet, all of them have different visions of an ideal  a society with one common factor that each assigns a superior role to its values and traditions.

Thus the unity in God diversifies itself into competing visions that have often led to conflicts, hatred and disorder, all in the name of religion.

The concept of unity in God is a powerful one as it expresses the desire of having a unity of human beings and a unity in the vision of an ideal society. This concept liberates human beings from accepting the slavery of others and free from the dictates of fellow human beings. God did not confuse human beings by proposing conflicting ideals to his creation. He is the source of unity and reason. The disunity is the outcome of diverse human experiences and interpretations of divine guidance.

The purpose of faith is to enable human beings to find the ultimate unity in a manner where diversity can express itself in a framework so that the human society achieves its true potential in terms of exploring the universe and human capability in living in a balanced and peaceful life.

Even though people speaking for different faiths often talk of an ideal Islamic, Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist, atheist, Jain or Sikh society, the deductive logic suggests that the human society can either have a unified divinely guided society or a disunited conflicting a society based on the experience of each separate race, nationality, ethnicity, tribe, community or nation. The former is the intent of the divine and the later is the outcome of asserting values that are determined by the narrow and limited experiences of humans.

If one has to reconstruct the basic outlines of an ideal society desired by the divine who is the creator of everything that exists in the universe, then one has to give considerations to the following minimum requirements.

1. There is one supreme power that alone created the universe

2. The unity of humanity is the essence of the creation as everything revolves around human beings.

3. The resources that exist in the universe are given to human being as a trust to be used to enhance life and progress not to destroy and regress.

4. Regardless of the gender and race and the differences in the intellectual capabilities of human beings, the society and its instruments of governance have to ensure dignity of everyone in terms of guaranteeing the right to life, right to mind, right to work, right to explore the universe and the right to create a nucleus in the form of a family to live peacefully.

5. Violence in any form or shape is based on coercion and it must not have any place in an ideal human society.

6. Justice and peace are the two essential values that should dictate all the spheres of life.

7. Freedom and the responsibility to use freedom in a social context are paramount to secure justice and peace.

8. The pursuit of happiness is an inalienable right of everyone that should be secured without infringing upon the rights of others.

9. Human beings should not be restricted in their pursuit of happiness anywhere in the world provided they do not violate the rights of others and do not exploit the resources to their racial, ethnic and tribal advantages.

10. Punishment and reward should be based on the concept of maintaining justice and peace in the world of on the basis of doing the job for God.

Perhaps this ideal society is deep in the conscience of every human being. But each religious and irreligious community represents these values in its limited and narrowest form within their own context creating conditions that often result in conflicts and violence in the name of God or progress.

In order for this ideal society to emerge, one must start with oneself so that an individual can identify with it in a non-sectarian and non-factional manner. It must be reflected in our education system and it must be espoused by those who claim to be speaking in the name of God. In the absence of serious commitment to these ideals, we would always be in a race to prove others wrong and unconsciously fighting for our sectarian superiority.

This in essence is the divine call, a call that has been misconstrued most of the times, a call that has been distorted in the places that are described as the houses of God. This idealism needs people who are willing to dedicate them to achieve it in an organized manner, because these values are the ones that will deliver us from falsehood that our human society has been living for centuries.