CHRISTIANISTS/ISLAMISTS:

The CDI's earlier incarnation was as the Christian Democrat International, a grouping founded in 1961 of Christian Democratic parties principally drawn from Europe and Latin America. It was established as a centrist or center-right alternative to the Socialist International and more conservative forces. Probably its most influential member is the German Christian Democratic Union, headed by Angela Merkel. The CDI's European division is the European People's Party (EPP), currently the largest political party in the European Parliament. The equivalent in Latin America is the Christian Democrat Organization of America. The Democratic Party in the US maintains links with CDI through the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs.

While the International was originally formed to study and enact Christian principles in politics, it attracted support from groups that were not Christian, so rechristened itself as "centrist." The vast majority of its members are still in the Christian Democrat camp, but it now has member parties from Algeria, Cambodia, Morocco, Senegal, and other countries. One recent addition to full membership in November 2018 was the National Awakening Party (PKB) from Indonesia.

Founded in 1999, the PKB is often described as an Islamic party, which is true but misleading. It is perhaps better described as a nationalist Muslim party that promotes inclusive and nationalist principles and upholds Indonesia's official state ideology of Pancasila. It has strong, if informal, connections to the traditionalist Nahdlatul Ulama, Indonesia's and the world's largest Muslim organization. Its point person on relations with the CDI has been K.H. Yahya Cholil Staquf, general secretary of Nahdlatul Ulama and a member of Indonesia's Presidential Advisory Council. I have written previously about him in Providence.

Staquf continues to mince no words on the problems of terrorism in relation to Islam. Speaking on February 1, 2019, at a European Parliament joint meeting on "Innovative Approaches to Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism," Staquf stated:

Islamist radicalism and terror continue to exert a strong appeal to many Muslims, because of the fact that these are directly linked to obsolete and problematic tenets within classical Islamic law (fiqh, often conflated with shari'ah), which Muslims generally regard as an authoritative source of religious guidance.

He urged his audience to "engage in frank discourse about these problematic tenets of Islamic orthodoxy, while encouraging Muslim religious authorities and Middle East governments to boldly acknowledge and reform them." In other meetings, he has criticized Western governments' tendency to ignore and even deny the obvious theological roots of violent and non-violent Islamist extremism.

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