The main ideology that grips this movement is Islamic Fundamentalism. Before 1979, the international world was ill-educated towards Islamic Fundamentalism and to many analysts, was hidden. But in 1979, Ayatollah Khomeini ceased power in Iran and the country exploded. The main objective of the fundamentalists was to replace civil, secular law, with religious laws, the Sharia, creating a theocracy. The fundamentalists saw secular law as inadequate and didn't create a true Muslim society that allowed true Muslims to develop into proper religious follwers. The events in Algeria in 1990 have also shown the world that Islamic fundamentalists have a serious influence within the world. In 1990, local elections were held were a Islamic fundamentalist political party swept the board, taking the political world by surprise as no one predicted such an event. Despite this result, the election was declared a void as the ruling government did not recognize the result despite the fundamentalists wining over 70% of the vote. The country is now ravaged by civil war. Islamic fundamentalists believe that society such be ruled by strict Islamic law, law decreed by the Koran. They believe that society should reject secular law and take heed of the Sharia, religious law, returning society back to a theocracy. The events in Algeria, Iran and the Taliban in Afghanistan taking control of power all illustrate that Islamic Fundamentalist is a major force in the international system and is still growing. They solely believe that society should orientate around the laws of the Koran and that society should dismiss a secular position.
Many analysts are asking the question why is there an anti-American feeling from many Islamic followers that resulted and a culminated in the events on September 11th. Many political analysts believe that the push of western culture and globalization onto Islamic culture is the main reason for the attacks on September 11th.