So much for the fundamentalism paradigm

When Kosovo declared its independence this past February, some of its detractors made subtle claims about the Muslim nature of Kosovan society -- much as those opponents to Turkey's accession to the European Union continue to do so -- and how this could be a destabilizing factor.

Since most Kosovans are nominally Muslim, and because of the serious social and economic problems facing it (unemployment is at nearly fifty percent, for example), so this reasoning went, the new state could become a hotbed of Islamic extremism in Europe. One has heard this same line of reasoning with regards to Albania, and also Bosnia-Herzegovina, two other states in Europe in which the titular nationalities happen to be Muslim.

Well, it so turns out that, like much else that comes from detractors that play the fundamentalism card in the Balkan region, this has been amply demonstrated to be ridiculous. As this Balkan Insight report points out, "Egypt has prevented Kosovo from taking part in the Organisation of the Islamic Conference’s second Ministrial Conference on Women because of ‘political reasons.’" Nothing further is given as a reason; just "political reasons."

It does not take much guesswork to deduce that, given the overt pro-American sympathies in Kosovo (and Albania, for that matter), as well as the reality of a near-complete lack of religiosity amongst the Kosovan population (and far more so in Albania, which was allowed to take part in the conference), most of the Muslim countries that form the OIC are iffy about courting the new state. Not sure where the planting of terror cells or jihadist warriors would play out in such an atmosphere.

While slightly unrelated, one is hard pressed to not also mention the lack of Muslim countries' recognition of Kosovo's independence: just eight out of fifty-seven OIC members have done so. Most of the so-called Islamic world is made up of countries that have perilous human rights situations on multiple levels, many of which deal with issues of autonomy and separatist demands. With so many of these countries wanting little, if anything, to do with Kosovo, where again does the fundamentalism fear come from?

I would venture to guess that such statements say a whole lot more about the detractors themselves than what is really happening in regards to Kosovo.