CONSERVATIVE MONITOR: You paint a bleak picture for the West if the fundamentalist Moslems come to power in Turkey, etc. What is the likelihood of this happening in the near future? Didn't Turkey just outlaw the fundamentalist party there?
ANTHONY J DENNIS: While one can never predict with absolute certainty the future of any movement or ideology - fundamentalist or otherwise - I believe it likely that many of the events I discuss will come to pass. It could be five years. It could be ten. At whatever rate events transpire, by approximately the first decade or so of the twenty-first century, I think something which might accurately be called an "Islamic Empire," an "Islamic Confederation" or perhaps an "Islamic Bloc" of nations - call it what you will - will in fact exist in a universally recognized form. Whatever the degree of formal, centralized control, this entity will function as a single entity in their foreign policies toward the West and will fashion a close military alliance with one another.
You make an excellent observation about Turkey. Yes, they recently banned their Islamic party from political participation but I would argue that that is indicative of the Islamic party's STRENGTH, not its weakness. The secularists in Turkey (urbanized intellectuals, senior military officials who possess subtle yet significant political power in that country) are truly alarmed by the growing in strength and political popularity of the Refah (Welfare) Party in Turkey which is their Islamic movement. In municipal elections in the last several years, Refah won control of the mayor's offices and city councils of practically all the major cities in Turkey. And in 1995, Mecmettin Erbakan ousted Turkish Prime Minister Tansu Ciller in a stunning and historic electoral upset and became the first Refah Party prime minister in modern Turkish history. The Muslim fundamentalists can no longer be dismissed as marginal political players even in such supposedly 'moderate' and economically well-developed countries as our NATO ally Turkey. The Islamic Refah Party has been outlawed, but I predict they'll be back - one way or another - peacefully or not-so-peacefully.
Interview is continued on next page.
Anthony Dennis is one of the nations foremost authorities on Muslim Nationalism. His book, "The Rise of the Islamic Empire and the Threat to the West", is generally accepted as a landmark study. He has been invited twice to appear as a guest on national conservative media pundit John McLaughlin's show "One On One with John McLaughlin". He is a frequent guest on radio talk shows. Mr. Dennis was also called to give expert testimony before the Senate Committee of Foreign Relations. In this month's interview, Mr. Dennis discusses current events in the Middle East and the long range ramifications of Islamic Nationalism for the United States.
