This summer, for the first time since the brutal division of what was left of Ottoman Arabia, the wire fences, built along the borders stipulated by the Sykes-Picot Agreement, were taken down and transgressed with blatant contempt for the division they once represented. I always thought of this moment as the beginning of a new world order: the birth of a united Arabia and the advent of a cultural renaissance. But the mood in most Arab metropoles was not one of jubilation, but of dejection; the story had taken a wrong turn. It was the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant which broke down the fence in order to re-establish the Caliphate. The rise of the Islamic State group has divided the Arab world yet again, into two hostile camps and the dream of unity appears as distant as ever.

I do not want to repeat the anxieties reflected by most moderate Arab governments and cultural outlets, namely that the IS group is a terrorist organisation which misrepresents Islam. What I would like to point out is that the most threatening attribute of the IS group is the apparent scope of this organisation to mobilise public support. All the while, most Arab states, including the central government in Baghdad, were paralysed in awe, as the IS group swallowed up more and more of the Middle East. In my opinion, the biggest issue is that there has been only a weak attempt on behalf of moderate Arabs and Muslims to create a parallel cultural movement that espouses the unity of the Arab world and acknowledges the religious pluralism of our region.

It is very likely that Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s declaration of the Caliphate in Iraq and the Levant would have been received with fervour by a sizeable portion of the Arab youth, particularly in the war-torn regions that are now the heartland of IS. This is because many have lost faith in the national framework as a forum to express their agency. The biggest and perhaps the most enduring challenge posed by the IS group is not military, but ideology. Secularism, still attached to national, elite politics has been unable to become a popular movement, whilst sectarian politics appear to have been the most successful in mobilising public support throughout the Arab world,. I find it highly regrettable that the IS group, along with its genocidal and fascist rhetoric, is one of the only entities that has taken up the cause of transnationalism as a political project.

Observing the rise of the Islamic State group, many would argue that religion or otherwise pseudo-religious politics offer the most robust basis for regional unity; however, I stand under the conviction that there are other, more inclusive models which are equally, if not more, compelling. Though secular notions of Arab unity have little political currency, one of the few forums where this sense of secular, transnational unity can be found today is, interestingly enough, on television. Apart from finding the pan-Arab superstar, talent shows like Arab Idol, Arabs Got Talent and The X Factor Arabia, assert the civilizational coherence of the Arab world. For a couple of hours each week, Arabs across the region, whether lounging on the fortieth floor of a high-rise in Dubai, or nervously awaiting an arbitrary IDF ‘knock on the roof’ in Gaza, are connected by the transcendental power of a shared language and cultural vocabulary.

The secular reaction of which I speak of must occur with cultural integration, not through military intervention. I am convinced that secularism, as a cultural idiom, must not be hostile to religion, as it is mistakenly perceived to be, but rather appeal to Arabs of all confessions in a neutral space, allowing Maronites, Copts, Druzes, Shiites and Sunnis an equal claim to this identity. The form this inclusive, secular Arab union will take still remains uncertain. What shows like Arab Idol point out is that, in spite of decades of colonial divide-and-conquer strategies and the more recent genocidal sectarian politics, there is a shared culture among religious majority and minority groups in the Arab world. As the modern heirs of the Arab civilisation, it is our duty to promote ecumenical modes of transnational identification, beyond the narrowly defined and exclusionary ideals promulgated by those who wish to divide us. We must awaken to the sobering reality that to counter the emerging threat of the IS group, we will need to translate the ethos of transnationalism, which is largely confined to television, into a more far-reaching cultural movement.   Ashraf Abdel Rahman is a columnist. Email him at thegazelle.org@gmail.com.