It is possible to discern certain trends and characteristics in the evolution of Islamic movements from which we can extrapolate a few inferences about future developments. First, though, some definitions are in order.
I have taken "Islamic movements" here to mean those with a political agenda, those movements sometimes called "Islamist" or "political Islam" and, by their enemies, "fundamentalist." As a matter of convenient shorthand, I will be referring to those Islamic movements with a political agenda as "Islamist."
This is not a particularly satisfactory term, but it is far better than "fundamentalist," a word borrowed from the Christian vocabulary.
