Europe’s New Refugee Problem Requires Explanation beyond War!
By Bobby Gulshan
Photo Credits: Wall Street Journal, Dan Kitwood/Getty Images
The scenes of refugees drowning by the hundreds in the seas between Turkey and Greece as they attempt to reach Europe are harrowing. They come from all corners of the Middle East, not only from Syria, but also Lebanon and Iraq. Lebanon recently received the corpses of a family of eight who died when they illegally took a ship from Turkey heading to Europe. All this while the photo of the Syrian toddler, Aylan Kurdi, remains fresh in the minds of the world.
In growing desperation, some refugees, predominantly Muslims, are converting to Christianity in the hopes that they will be welcomed into new societies. Reports indicate that Iraqi soldiers, wishing to take advantage of the opportunities for new lives in Europe, have also begun deserting their units.
A recent article by Professor Walter Russell Mead in the Wall Street Journal, on September 12, throws light onto perhaps one of the most serious refugee crises Europe has faced since World War II. According to Mead, not only have insecurities and civil wars sent refugees flooding into Europe, but some structural causes, specifically “civilizational” failures both in the greater Middle East and Europe, have fueled the crisis. Ironically, almost 20 years have passed since Samuel Huntington’s thesis on the “clash of civilizations” transfixed the world. Now, Mead focuses on “clashes within civilizations,” specifically between Arabs and Muslims on one hand, and Europeans and Westerners on the other.
http://www.aljadid.com/content/europe%E2%80%99s-new-refugee-problem-requires-explanation-beyond-war
