Second Generation Islamist Political Parties and the Future of Islam-West Relations

Abstract

There is change on the landscape of political Islam. What I term as 2G or second generation Islamist political parties has emerged, including Turkey's AKP, Malaysia's PKR, and Indonesia's PKS, which are Islamic in orientation and identity but base their political programs on principles of democracy, pluralism, and human rights, rather than crude appeals to implementing punitive aspects of shariah or creating an Islamic state. Also, unlike most of their first generation counterparts, 2G Islamist parties advocate positive relations with the West and do not overtly oppose key security and strategic interests of such Western nations as the United States.