Bassam Tibi | |
|---|---|
 Bassam Tibi in 2016. | |
| Born | (1944-04-04)April 4, 1944 (age 81) Damascus, Syria |
| Alma mater |
|
| Known for | Islamic themes |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Political science,Islamic studies,Middle Eastern studies |
| Institutions | University of Göttingen,Cornell University |
Bassam Tibi (Arabic:بسام طيبي), is a Syrian-born Germanpolitical scientist and professor ofinternational relations specializing inIslamic studies andMiddle Eastern studies. He was born in 1944 inDamascus,Syria to an aristocratic family,[1] and moved toWest Germany in 1962, where he later became anaturalized citizen in 1976.
He is known for his analysis of international relations[vague] and the introduction of Islam to the study of international conflict and of civilization. Tibi is known for introducing the controversial concept of EuropeanLeitkultur, as well as the concept ofEuroislam to discussions about integration ofMuslim immigrants in European countries.[2] Tibi has done research in Asian and African countries. He publishes in English, German, and Arabic.
He studied inFrankfurt am Main underMax Horkheimer, obtaining his Ph.D. there in 1971, and later habilitated inHamburg, Germany. From 1973 until his retirement in 2009, he was Professor for International Relations atGöttingen University. Parallel to this appointment he was, from 1982 to 2000, atHarvard University in a variety of affiliations, the latest being a 1998 to 2000 stint as The Bosch Fellow. Currently, he is an A.D. White Professor-at-Large atCornell University. Tibi had eighteen visiting professorships in all continents including fellowships inPrinceton University,UC Berkeley,University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, and most recently (2010) at theCenter for Advanced Holocaust Studies, Washington D.C. Tibi was also a visiting senior fellow at Yale University. After his retirement in 2009, he publishedIslam's Predicament with Modernity, a book embodying his life's work.
Bassam Tibi's views can be accurately stated by a quote from the German distinguished Professor Walter Reese-Schäfer. This scholar writes on Tibi "Unlike other authors Bassam Tibi bases his views as a scholarly observer on his participation in the matter he deals with", that is he writes as an insider. The views of Bassam Tibi can be best referred to by quoting from his twelve books written and published in English. In his book onArab Spring "The Shari'a State" (2013) he enlists himself among the other Muslims identified as "enlightened Arab thinkers who are clear about the need for the introduction of democracy into the Arab world". Thus, Bassam Tibi subscribes to the "enlightened Muslim thought". This is a contemporary school of thought in Islamic civilization. In another book on "Islamism and Islam" published by Yale University Press (2010) Bassam Tibi discards the Islamist rejection of democracy (chapter 4) and concludes in the final chapter 9 with a commitment to "civil Islam as an alternative to Islamism".
Tibi is aMuslim,[3] but criticizes Islamism and advocates"reforming" Islam.[4] Tibi also suggests that Muslim immigrants should refrain from engaging in religious missionary activities,Dawa.[5]
When it comes to Europe, Tibi distinguishes positive and negative elements of European culture. The positive ones are, according to Tibi,enlightenment,pluralism,civil rights andsecularization. Tibi argues that there is a need for Europe to defend these values, especially in times ofglobalization andmigration from Muslim countries.[6] On the other hand, Tibi argues thatracism is a European invention, and that Europeans must overcome what he calls "Euro-arrogance" andxenophobia to integrate immigrants.[5]
He criticizesEuropean imperialism, arguing that it disrupted and deformed other cultures. Acknowledging that Muslim conquerors also did wrongs, Tibi argues that, unlike the European conquests, Muslim conquests were not driven by any kind of racism.[7]
He has criticised the left-green dominated German media for stifling debate about Islam in Germany, leading to ordinary people being afraid to state their opinions. As an example he givesUwe Tellkamp, who expressed criticism against the German policy of migration and was attacked inmainstream media and painted as a right-extremist.[8] He has also criticised authorities in Germany for not standing up to the large organised Islamic community organisations like theTurkish-Islamic Union for Religious Affairs and for not supporting liberal Muslims likeSeyran Ateş andNecla Kelek.[8]
Bassam Tibi has criticized theLikud party of Israel as blocking the peace process. He states that in the 1990s, the Likud adopted the "Three Nos" policy:[9]
"No to the Palestinian State, no to dividingJerusalem, no to returningGolan Heights to Syria.
According to Tibi, the Likud government of 1996 engaged in provoking Arabs by constructingHar Homa inArab Jerusalem, and digging a tunnel under theTemple Mount, and thereby exposing Israel to terrorism.[9]
 | This section of abiography of a living persondoes notinclude anyreferences or sources. Please help by addingreliable sources. Contentious material about living people that is unsourced or poorly sourcedmust be removed immediately. Find sources: "Bassam Tibi" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(May 2019) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
In 1995 he was decorated by the President of Germany,Roman Herzog, with theBundesverdienstkreuz, cross of merits first class.[10] In 2003, the Swiss Foundation for European Awareness granted him in Zurich with the annual prize.[11]
