Islamism in the West and Psychological Operations against it

Beginning with the Crusades, it was considered necessary to pay attention to Islam in the West. As time passed and as a result of the changes, religion was not considered as a part of the political and social life in the Western society. As an outcome of this process, a gap was created in the society. Following the Islamic Revolution of Iran, signs of reviving religion were observed but the West considered this revival a threat from the Muslim world. The age of enlightenment, since its inception, and the ideologies arising from it such as liberalism have imposed irreparable harms on moral and spiritual values and human virtues and created major crises in the world. On the other hand, the influence of Islam and people’s inclination toward religious and spiritual messages have made Western governments anxious. Following the disintegration of communism, the West considered Islam its major challenge and raising the subject of the clash of rival civilizations, it regarded the confrontation between religious and secular values as the historical rivalry between Islam and Christianity. After the Sept. 11, 2001 incident, Islam was introduced as the main source of terrorism. Western people believe that those who caused the Sept. 11, 2001 incident had lived in the West for months and even years but had not learned anything from the Western civilization and had merely retrained their anger. Therefore, they say, it is wrong to believe that Muslims are changeable since they still insist on such terms as jihad, murder and martyrdom.