Muslims shouldn't automatically trust Marxists and vice versa. But there's a lot to be learned from the history of productive and counter-productive revisionisms and opportunisms of both sides, and I hope both sides -- from Egypt to the Philippines, from India to Lebanon to Palestine -- will remember that. If they could practice productive revisionism and opportunism while avoiding counter-productive ones till such time as they manage to defeat the oppressors' regime, that would be already a great leap forward. And if they could actually talk themselves into believing the former as a matter of faith, it would be even better. There's no better revisionist and opportunist than a true believer, and it takes true believers not just to defeat the oppressors but also to establish and defend a new revolutionary order.
<http://www.rand.org/pubs/notes/N1707.1/> The Soviet Union and Muslim Guerrilla Wars, 1920-1981: Lessons for Afghanistan By: Alexandre Bennigsen Pages: 39 Year: 1981
This Note presents an historical analogy that explains, to a large degree, the apparent inability of the Soviet-backed Afghan regimes to defeat the Afghan resistance movements and to govern the population in the wake of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in December 1979. The author contrasts former Soviet successes with current failures in dealing with insurgent Muslim movements and suggests lessons from past experience for contemporary Afghanistan. These lessons show the following formulas for dealing with Muslim guerrilla uprisings to be successful: (1) divide the adversary, using ethnic or religious levers where possible; (2) win over critical native elites, especially the tribal nobility, the traditional religious leadership, and the modern intellectual class; (3) create a strong local Communist Party apparatus; (4) field a Muslim national army; and (5) create a national Communist ideology that takes the most appropriate elements of Marxism-Leninism, synthesizes them with local reality, and portrays itself as a conquering ideology.
FULL TEXT: <http://www.rand.org/pubs/notes/2005/N1707.1.pdf>.
<http://www.press.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/hfs.cgi/00/150.ctl> Bennigsen, Alexandre A. and S. Enders Wimbush Muslim National Communism in the Soviet Union: A Revolutionary Strategy for the Colonial World. 290 p. 1979 Series: (PCMES) Publications of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies
Paper $24.00sp ISBN: 978-0-226-04236-7 (ISBN-10: 0-226-04236-7) In this study, Bennigsen and Wimbush trace the development of the doctrine of national communism in Central Asia and the Caucasus. At the heart of this doctrine—as elaborated by the Volga Tatar, Mir-Said Sultan Galiev—was the concept of "proletarian nations," as opposed to the traditional notion of a working class. With such ideological innovations, Sultan Galiev and his contemporaries were able to reconcile Marxist nationalisms and Islam and devise an "Eastern strategy" whereby the national revolution was to be spread.
The authors show that the ideas of Muslim national communism persist in the land of their birth and have spread to such developing societies as China, Algeria, and Indonesia. This doctrine is an important factor in the ideological split and increasing tensions between industrial and nonindustrial nations, East and West, and now North and South, which grip the world communist movement.
TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgments A Note on Transliteration Introduction 1. From National Socialism to National Communism The Transfer of Socialist Ideas The Relevance of Socialism to Nationalist Elites Conclusion 2. The Impact of Revolution and Civil War Typologies of the New Bolsheviks 3. National Communism The Ideological Basis A "Muslim Way" to Communism The Eastern Strategy The Struggle for Organizational Independence The Republic of Turan: A Revolutionary Springboard 4. The Struggle for Power and the Liquidation of the National Communists Self-Determination and Counterrevolution The Southern Border: Turkey, Iran, and the Republic of Ghilan Twelfth Party Congress and the Purge of Sultan Galiev The National Communists Fight Back The Turning Point: 1928 A Note on Rehabilitations 5. The Legacy of Muslim National Communism Muslim National Communism's Legacy in the USSR National Communism beyond the Borders of the Soviet Union 6. Conclusion and Prospects Appendix A. The Social Revolution and the East Appendix B. The Tatars and the October Revolution Appendix C. The Methods of Antireligious Propaganda among the Muslims Appendix D. Rights and "Lefts" in the National Republics and Regions Appendix E. The Program of the ERK Party Appendix F. Demographics of Soviet Muslim Nationalities Appendix G. Chronology, 1917-28 Appendix H. Biographies Appendix I. Political Parties Appendix J. Glossary Notes Bibliography Index
Subjects:
* HISTORY: European History
* MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES
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