And then they quickly added, “Not that there’s anything wrong with that.”
“US spies see stronger, Islamic Turkey in 2025,” by Ãœmit Enginsoy for Hurriyet, November 22 (thanks to Davida):
WASHINGTON – The National Intelligence Council, which brings together all 16 US intelligence agencies, argues in its recent report titled Global Trends 2025 that Turkey”s most likely course in the next 15 years involves a blending of Islamic and nationalist strains.
US spies see stronger, Islamic Turkey in 2025 Turkey is likely to have a more prominent political and economic role internationally and economically in 2025, but it will also become more Islamic and more nationalist, the U.S. intelligence community predicted in a report released late Thursday.
The National Intelligence Council, or NIC, which brings together all 16 U.S. intelligence agencies, said in its report — “Global Trends 2025” — that the United States’ clout was likely to decline over the next 15 to 20 years, while China and India would have a strengthened position. Russia, it predicted, could go up or down.
Muslim power
Among Muslim countries, the NIC expected “to see the political and economic power of Indonesia, Iran, and Turkey increase. “Over the next 15 years, Turkey”s most likely course involves a blending of Islamic and nationalist strains, which could serve as a model for other rapidly modernizing countries in the Middle East,” it said.
The NIC said it expected secularism in the Middle East to decline in line with the Turkish example. “In the Middle East, secularism, which also has been considered an integral part of the Western model, increasingly may be seen as out of place as Islamic parties come into prominence and possibly begin to run governments,” it said. “As in today”s Turkey, we could see both increased Islamization and greater emphasis on economic growth and modernization.” But a more Middle Eastern and Islamic Turkey is a candidate for more important roles, the NIC said.
“Indonesia, Turkey and a post-clerically run Iran — states that are predominantly Islamic, but which fall outside the Arab core — appear well-situated for growing international roles,” it said….