Islamist Perceptions of the United Nations and Its Peacekeeping Missions: Some Preliminary Findings

Abstract

The portrayal of Islamic fundamentalism (Islamism) as the new security threat to the West has coincided with a considerable build‐up of Western military capacity for humanitarian interventions and peacekeeping. Presumably, the juxtaposition of these trends adds to the legacy of Western domination and will affect negatively Western participation in peacekeeping in the Muslim world. To address this issue, this article discusses Islamist perceptions of the United Nations and its peacekeeping missions. It is argued that despite the vehement denunciation of the West by the Islamists, this hostility is not automatically extended to the UN, nor to its peacekeeping missions. Experience shows that UN peacekeeping missions can find a modus vivendi with the Islamists.