The Islamic challenge and the United States: global security in an age of uncertainty
"In The Islamic Challenge and the United States the conflict between Islam and the West-especially the United States chronicles the clashing political legacies of Islam and the United States. The author argues that Islam has no tradition of separation of politics and religion, while that separa...
| Summary: | "In The Islamic Challenge and the United States the conflict between Islam and the West-especially the United States chronicles the clashing political legacies of Islam and the United States. The author argues that Islam has no tradition of separation of politics and religion, while that separation is at the heart of America's global promotion of democracy. Similarly, secularism is an important aspect of Western-style democracy, while the Islamists of all varieties emphatically reject that notion. Consequently, Islam and the United States have remained on opposite, conflicting, sides of key issues at the heart of politics, the style of governance, and the place of religion in a polity. To quote the author: "This book is about the Islamic challenge to the primacy of the United States. If global politics is regarded as a constant tussle for primacy among various powers, ideologies, and isms, then, from the perspective of this book, America's major challenge in the post-Cold war years also comes from Islam, both a religion as well as a political force from its very inception. The conflict between the United States and Islam involves the Islamists, Salafists, as well as the self-styled jihadists (aka "terrorists"). It is partly ideological, partly cultural, and partly religious (especially when it comes to the Islamists' notion of Islamic government. The most obdurate issues related to this conflict involve the type of government, Westernization, modernization, and secularism. In that capacity, they are most difficult to resolve. The most explosive aspect of this conflict involves the self-styled jihadists and the United States. Even though this particular aspect of this conflict will be the major focus of this book, ample attention will also be paid to the prospects of resolution of obdurate issues, especially in the context of the United States' interactions with the Islamists in the wake of the Arab Awakening." A key strength of this manuscript is the case studies and historical detail it provides. For the final manuscript the author has revised extensively to: include timely coverage of ISIS; strengthen ties between cases by linking the theme of conflict between forces of democracy and secularism (the United States and the West) versus those groups who categorically reject democracy and secularism as antithetical to Islam throughout the manuscript; better define Islam; better outline his methodology and approach in the introduction. The final manuscript also includes a new concluding chapter to further analyze cases and provide detailed commentary on what both the US/Middle East could change in the future and the predicted outcomes."-- Introduction and the general premise of the study -- The nature of the Islamic challenge : when the Islamists (moderates) failed -- Jihad : the unsheathed weapon -- The Middle East : where US strategic dominance clashes with Islamism -- Pakistan and Afghanistan : battlegrounds for the jihadi long war -- The dynamics of the Islamist challenge from Iran -- Central Asia : where the Islamists challenge the great powers |
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| Item Description: | Includes bibliographical references and index |
| ISBN: | 0773548351 |