Posted on 09/23/2024 2:16:41 PM PDT by fruser1
Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama said Sunday his country would transform the Tirana-based Bektashi Muslims, an Islamic Sufi order, into a sovereign state to promote moderation, tolerance and peaceful coexistence.
(Excerpt) Read more at apnews.com ...
Sufis are the branch of Islam focused on personal enlightenment, etc., and are pretty much pacifists/nom-violent. Unfortunately, they are far fewer than are mainstream Muslims.
Bad idea.
I recently was involved in a civil suit, and I had to pay a Sufi.
(OK, I’ll be serious.) So the Albanians are trying to emulate Rome, where the capital city of a country has a religious hole carved out of it.
Imagine, for example, handing Georgetown over to the Sikhs so they could have their own pseudo-Punjab, separate from the rest of us—or letting the Haitians have their own chunk of Springfield, OH, where they would be stuck behind the walls to do as they wished.
The problem with sovereignty is they can now put an army right next door and there’s nothing you can do. They can serve as a base for undesirables who cross the border with impunity. Also, this may create an as yet unforeseen issue decades from now. Basically, a bad idea.
From the standpoint of a new country, what’s the tax base? What forms the national income? Is there access to the sea?
People in the US want a national divorce. Suppose New York, for example, secedes. First thing that happens is the border will be fortified on each side. We’ll spend as much money and assets keeping an eye on those Yorkies as Russia and China. Also, Russia and China would hustle over and open trade with the new country. Then, military assistance.
The reason the US is the world’s preeminent power is we don’t have substantial neighbors.
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