The fact that on a practical level most Muslims living in the Middle East consider themselves to belong to a certain nation-state does not mean that their affiliation to tribe or religion has diminished since the collapse of the vestigial remnants of the Caliphate after the First World War.
Pan-Arabism might be an antiquated idea, but pan-Islam is not only alive and well, but it is flourishing, as the Paris intifada, worldwide riots in response to those innocuous Jyllands-Posten cartoons, and generic support for the 9/11 massacres within the ummah demonstrate.
In this respect, Osama Bin-Laden and the Muslim Brotherhood are merely picking up on the legacy bequeathed by Jamal al-Din al-Afghani, who was simply revivifying a concept that had been inherent in Islam since the time of Mohammed.
Worldwide unity, leading to independence from Western colonialist powers, followed shortly thereafter by the colonization in turn of the West.
OK but I never claimed there was such a concept within Islam.
Neither is there concept of nationalism in Communism, Capitalism or Christianity. Nationalism is a new concept in human thought. Mankind being organized in Kingdoms, Empires, Commonwealths, etc until less than five hundred years ago. So that is a moot point. Catholics owed more alligance to Rome than their political sovereigns until a few centuries ago and Americans believed the Pope would control a Catholic president until fifty years ago.
Theoretically Christians and Moslems both own primary fealty to their God and his religious authority. We both know theory only goes so far.
The real point is that Islam came upon entities which predated it such as Eygpt and Persia. those are still organized politically as nations and most of their citizens show alligance to the nations. The states will certainly prosecute you in the name of the nation state and speak on the world stage as such.
The prime problem we are dealing with is the small percentage of those Moslems which are faithful to the original ethic of War and Terror which motivated Mo and the Boys, Khalid, Omar, Abu. The current crop appears to be more motivated by sheer reiligous concerns than the first attackers too.
This is why the destruction of this port deal is so bad for US interests. The only hope of avoiding a cataclysmic escalation of the war between the West and Islam itself is to split off those rational enough to understand that the latter Cannot win and must reform. The Emirates have that recognition and must be rewarded for their absolutely CRUCLE assistance to our military. (It is inconceivable that 77 thousand visited there last year with NO terrorist occurances.)
Those who refuse to recognize that Moslems throughout that region are fighting and dying alongside our Military I will call bigots and worse. They are lining up in the freaking streets in Iraq knowing that there is a GREAT probility that a lunatic in a car will blow them UP. Enlisting knowing this endangers their families; speaking in support of the US knowing they could literally lose their heads.
Musharef has had multiple assassination attempts against him by Mad Mo's boys; generals in Iraq are killed, mayors shot, Emirs killed. They are realizing that any of them are subject to death from this shadowy group and they are protected by the US.
You will find NO one on this site more disdainful of the Islamic lunacy but we are dealing with more than that. We are dealing with people.
But most important is the FACT that the campaign against the UAE has been based entirely upon LIES.