Confronting Political Islam
Six Lessons from the West's Past
1st Edition
Published on 28. July 2015
232 pages
978-1-4008-5215-4 (ISBN)
Description
How the conflicts of Western history shed light on current upheavals in the Middle East
Political Islam has often been compared to ideological movements of the past such as fascism or Christian theocracy. But are such analogies valid? How should the Western world today respond to the challenges of political Islam? Taking an original approach to answer this question, Confronting Political Islam compares Islamism's struggle with secularism to other prolonged ideological clashes in Western history. By examining the past conflicts that have torn Europe and the Americas-and how they have been supported by underground networks, fomented radicalism and revolution, and triggered foreign interventions and international conflicts-John Owen draws six major lessons to demonstrate that much of what we think about political Islam is wrong.
Owen focuses on the origins and dynamics of twentieth-century struggles among Communism, Fascism, and liberal democracy; the late eighteenth- and nineteenth-century contests between monarchism and republicanism; and the sixteenth- and seventeenth-century wars of religion between Catholics, Lutherans, Calvinists, and others. Owen then applies principles learned from the successes and mistakes of governments during these conflicts to the contemporary debates embroiling the Middle East. He concludes that ideological struggles last longer than most people presume; ideologies are not monolithic; foreign interventions are the norm; a state may be both rational and ideological; an ideology wins when states that exemplify it outperform other states across a range of measures; and the ideology that wins may be a surprise.
Looking at the history of the Western world itself and the fraught questions over how societies should be ordered, Confronting Political Islam upends some of the conventional wisdom about the current upheavals in the Muslim world.
Political Islam has often been compared to ideological movements of the past such as fascism or Christian theocracy. But are such analogies valid? How should the Western world today respond to the challenges of political Islam? Taking an original approach to answer this question, Confronting Political Islam compares Islamism's struggle with secularism to other prolonged ideological clashes in Western history. By examining the past conflicts that have torn Europe and the Americas-and how they have been supported by underground networks, fomented radicalism and revolution, and triggered foreign interventions and international conflicts-John Owen draws six major lessons to demonstrate that much of what we think about political Islam is wrong.
Owen focuses on the origins and dynamics of twentieth-century struggles among Communism, Fascism, and liberal democracy; the late eighteenth- and nineteenth-century contests between monarchism and republicanism; and the sixteenth- and seventeenth-century wars of religion between Catholics, Lutherans, Calvinists, and others. Owen then applies principles learned from the successes and mistakes of governments during these conflicts to the contemporary debates embroiling the Middle East. He concludes that ideological struggles last longer than most people presume; ideologies are not monolithic; foreign interventions are the norm; a state may be both rational and ideological; an ideology wins when states that exemplify it outperform other states across a range of measures; and the ideology that wins may be a surprise.
Looking at the history of the Western world itself and the fraught questions over how societies should be ordered, Confronting Political Islam upends some of the conventional wisdom about the current upheavals in the Muslim world.
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More details
Edition
Course Book
Language
English
Place of publication
Princeton, NJ
United States
Publishing group
De Gruyter
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Edition type
Digital original
Product notice
Reflowable
Illustrations
1 b/w ill., 4 line illus. 6 tables. 1 map.
File size
1,66 MB
ISBN-13
978-1-4008-5215-4 (9781400852154)
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
09/2016
Princeton University Press
€25.50
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Book
11/2014
Princeton University Press
€43.33
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Person
John M. Owen IV is professor of politics and a faculty fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture at the University of Virginia. His books include The Clash of Ideas in World Politics (Princeton) and Liberal Peace, Liberal War.
Content
List of Illustrations ix
List of Tables ix
Preface xi
Introduction It Did Happen Here 1
Lesson 1 Don't Sell Islamism Short 26
Lesson 2 Ideologies Are (Usually) Not Monolithic 46
Lesson 3 Foreign Interventions Are Normal 67
Lesson 4 A State May Be Rational and Ideological at the Same Time 86
Lesson 5 The Winner May Be "None of the Above" 110
Lesson 6 Watch Turkey and Iran 130
Conclusion What to Do and What Not to Do 156
Notes 165
Bibliography 193
Index 211
List of Tables ix
Preface xi
Introduction It Did Happen Here 1
Lesson 1 Don't Sell Islamism Short 26
Lesson 2 Ideologies Are (Usually) Not Monolithic 46
Lesson 3 Foreign Interventions Are Normal 67
Lesson 4 A State May Be Rational and Ideological at the Same Time 86
Lesson 5 The Winner May Be "None of the Above" 110
Lesson 6 Watch Turkey and Iran 130
Conclusion What to Do and What Not to Do 156
Notes 165
Bibliography 193
Index 211
