Radical Islam poses a political challenge in the modern world which is like that of no other radical religious movement. Ideologically, it is perceived by Western policy makers as threatening the liberal-democratic ideology by which most states in the West abide and which most other states rhetorically espouse. This book serves as a welcome addition to the intellectual and policy debate on the nature of the radical Islam phenomenon and how to respond to it. The collection is divided into three parts: the first part seeks to understand the Islamic challenge in broad comparative and historical terms, while the second part deals with specific regional case studies, which seek to identify patterns of uniformity and variation in radical Islam across a wide swath of terrain. The third part is policy-oriented, suggesting possible responses to the Islamic challenge. The contributors include distinguished researchers from Europe, North America and the Middle East. This book will be of much interest to students of Islamism, political violence, international security and Middle Eastern politics.
Author(s): Efraim Inbar: H
Edition: 1
Year: 2008
Language: English
Pages: 240
Book Cover......Page 1
Title......Page 4
Copyright......Page 5
Contents......Page 6
Illustrations......Page 8
Contributors......Page 9
Introduction: Radical Islam and international security: challenges and responses......Page 14
Part I: The challenge of radical Islam: General themes......Page 22
1 Religious extremism or religionization of politics?: The ideological foundations of political Islam......Page 24
2 Islam from flexibility to ferocity......Page 51
3 An economic perspective on radical Islam......Page 57
Part II: The Islamist challenge Case studies......Page 84
4 The rise of jihadi trends in Saudi Arabia: The post Iraq–Kuwait war phase......Page 86
5 Islamic radicalism and terrorism in the European Union: The Maghrebi factor......Page 106
6 Explaining the causes of radical Islam in Europe......Page 134
7 The evolution of Iranian interventionism: Support for radical Islam in Turkey, 1982–2003......Page 147
8 The Islamic dimension of Pakistan’s foreign policy......Page 166
Part III: Responding to the Islamist challenge......Page 182
9 The potential dangers of a “real” jihad......Page 184
10 Deterring those who are already dead?......Page 193
11 Fighting terrorism with democracy?......Page 201
12 Counter-terrorist strategies......Page 217
Index......Page 233
