It is not easy to find an immediate solution to the onslaught of radical Islam. A regional approach must be found; Washington can help, but not much. As long as Saudi Arabia and Iran are working as adversaries it will be hard to resolve the crises in the extremely vulnerable Arab states.

The relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia will automatically improve if Iran seals a nuclear deal with the major powers. With hard work, a nuclear deal might emerge on July 20, opening opportunities to stem the tide of terror with a regional force. Stemming the tide would be short term solution.

But there is no short term solution for radical politics. The current social and political climate of the region is not conducive to democratic state building. Living with dynasties is living with a political vacuum; vacuum breeds militant, opportunistic, religious revolt.

The recent military gains of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) in Mosul and its earlier gains and other Jihadi forces in Syria,  are dramatic reminders that the Middle East is afflicted by a hidden social problem. Sectarian politics is not fully recognized as a root cause of fragmentation of society. Neither is the related problem of gender disempowerment.

Despite the birth of the modern state, Arab society remains sectarian. Middle Easterners follow the Ta’ifa- Milleh (religious personal and family law)  system of the Ottomans, who ruled for four hundred years. The mosque, the church and the synagogue legitimate identity at birth and regulate marriage, divorce and inheritance. Religious ideas shape the educational system and guide political and economic power.

 “Woe unto a nation that is rich in religion and poor in faith” lamented the Arab American poet and novelist Gibran Kahlil Gibran. Gibran’s observations on misuse of clerical  authority corroborates sociological research which reveals that any institution, with time, tends to deviate from the original goal for which it was created.  As a result, all institutions are in perpetual need of reform in order to stay on course; the church, the mosque and the synagogue are no exceptions.

Arab societies are beginning to discover ways to attenuate the influence of religion on politics. We are seeing how the state in Egypt, Libya and Tunisia are responding to political Islam. But proper process is key in social change. With the exception of Tunisia, current attempts at limiting the power of Islamist movements have been so far undemocratic and consequently counterproductive. 

To confront extreme religious movements like ISIS three elements are important in state and international policy: address political injustice first, reduce the power of the clerics and empower people economically.  

This is not what is happening in Iraq, Syria or Egypt where extreme Islamist politics are gaining ground. In Iraq, President Nouri al Maliki has won his second term though elections, but he has consistently alienated the Sunni community.

Those advancing troops are not necessarily all ISIS fighters. They must have popular support within the tribal communities and in the Sunni streets. The situation in Iraq today is much worse than it was under Saddam Hussein. 

In the past it was Sunni leadership in dominance and now it is the rule of Shi’a. There is no way to confront ISIS without a national political solution to Iraq. Washington’s taken intervention to weaken ISIS will not solve Iraq’s long term- problems.

In Syria the same dynamics are in place. It is Washington’s current policy to strengthen the secular opposition in order to take on the Assad regime. On the one side, and the Islamist rebels on the other. Here again there is a political dead end. What is needed in Syria is collaboration of regional forces (including Iran) to dismantle the current Syrian regime and start rebuilding the state along democratic principles.

In Egypt, there is no solution for taming the Muslim Brotherhood by force. President Sisi is not expected to resolve Egypt’s problems without the participation of the majority of the Egyptian people. In a year or two, foreign funding of Cairo’s military-supported regime will dry up and Tahrir Square will be active again with a new uprising. 

There is no easy solution for political Islam. Justice, clerical reform and economic prosperity are key to state building and dealing with sectarian politics.