Download or read book Jihad vs McWorld written by Benjamin Barber and published by Ballantine Books. This book was released on 2010-04-21 with total page 432 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Jihad vs. McWorld is a groundbreaking work, an elegant and illuminating analysis of the central conflict of our times: consumerist capitalism versus religious and tribal fundamentalism. These diametrically opposed but strangely intertwined forces are tearing apart--and bringing together--the world as we know it, undermining democracy and the nation-state on which it depends. On the one hand, consumer capitalism on the global level is rapidly dissolving the social and economic barriers between nations, transforming the world's diverse populations into a blandly uniform market. On the other hand, ethnic, religious, and racial hatreds are fragmenting the political landscape into smaller and smaller tribal units. Jihad vs. McWorld is the term that distinguished writer and political scientist Benjamin R. Barber has coined to describe the powerful and paradoxical interdependence of these forces. In this important new book, he explores the alarming repercussions of this potent dialectic for democracy. A work of persuasive originality and penetrating insight, Jihad vs. McWorld holds up a sharp, clear lens to the dangerous chaos of the post-Cold War world. Critics and political leaders have already heralded Benjamin R. Barber's work for its bold vision and moral courage. Jihad vs. McWorld is an essential text for anyone who wants to understand our troubled present and the crisis threatening our future.
Download or read book Democratic jihad military intervention and democracy written by Lene Siljeholm Christiansen, Nils Petter Gleditsch, Håvard Hegre and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2007 with total page 62 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Abstract: Democracies rarely if ever fight one another, but they participate in wars as frequently as autocracies. They tend to win the wars in which they participate. Democracies frequently build large alliances in wartime, but not only with other democracies. From time to time democracies intervene militarily in ongoing conflicts. The democratic peace may contribute to a normative justification for such interventions, for the purpose of promoting democracy and eventually for the promotion of peace. This is reinforced by an emerging norm of humanitarian intervention. Democracies may have a motivation to intervene in non-democracies, even in the absence of ongoing conflict, for the purpose of regime change. The recent Iraq War may be interpreted in this perspective. A strong version of this type of foreign policy may be interpreted as a democratic crusade. The paper examines the normative and theoretical foundations of democratic interventionism. An empirical investigation of interventions in the period 1960-96 indicates that democracies intervene quite frequently, but rarely against other democracies. In the short term, democratic intervention appears to be successfully promoting democratization, but the target states tend to end up among the unstable semi-democracies. The most widely publicized recent interventions are targeted on poor or resource-dependent countries in non-democratic neighborhoods. Previous research has found these characteristics to reduce the prospects for stable democracy. Thus, forced democratization is unpredictable with regard to achieving long-term democracy and potentially harmful with regard to securing peace. But short-term military successes may stimulate more interventions until the negative consequences become more visible.
Download or read book After Jihad written by Noah Feldman and published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. This book was released on 2007-05-15 with total page 282 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A lucid and compelling case for a new American stance toward the Islamic world. What comes after jihad? Outside the headlines, believing Muslims are increasingly calling for democratic politics in their undemocratic countries. But can Islam and democracy successfully be combined? Surveying the intellectual and geopolitical terrain of the contemporary Muslim world, Noah Feldman proposes that Islamic democracy is indeed viable and desirable, and that the West, particularly the United States, should work to bring it about, not suppress it. Encouraging democracy among Muslims threatens America's autocratic Muslim allies, and raises the specter of a new security threat to the West if fundamentalists are elected. But in the long term, the greater threat lies in continuing to support repressive regimes that have lost the confidence of their citizens. By siding with Islamic democrats rather than the regimes that repress them, the United States can bind them to the democratic principles they say they support, reducing anti-Americanism and promoting a durable peace in the Middle East. After Jihad gives the context for understanding how the many Muslims who reject religious violence see the world after the globalization of democracy. It is also an argument about how American self-interest can be understood to include a foreign policy consistent with the deeply held democratic values that make America what it is. At a time when the encounter with Islam has become the dominant issue of U.S. foreign policy, After Jihad provides a road map for making democracy work in a region where the need for it is especially urgent.
Download or read book Radical State written by Abigail R. Esman and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2010-05-20 with total page 263 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This insightful, on-the-ground narrative looks at how radical Islam is affecting our society and how our own response is endangering the very democratic values we have hoped to spread around the world—and preserve at home. In Radical State: How Jihad Is Winning Over Democracy in the West, author Abigail R. Esman argues that in large measure, it is actually jihad which has emerged victorious over democracy, not only because of the actions of Muslim terrorists, but because of our own response to extremist Islam in the West. With the best of intentions, Western (European) countries have permitted antidemocratic, ultraconservative Islamic beliefs and traditions to flourish in their societies as they've responded to the influx of Muslim immigrants to their shores, largely as a result of the guest-worker programs which began in the 1960s and 1970s across Europe. But this multicultural approach has only backfired, creating cultural wars in which even the most intolerant and undemocratic of belief systems and values have been permitted, as governments have turned a blind eye to such atrocities as honor killings, anti-Semitism, the spread of literature extolling violence, and calls for the destruction of the democratic state. Esman focuses her narrative on the Netherlands, oft regarded as the most free, stable, and tolerant nation in the West, the paragon of democracy and tolerance. Using Holland as an example, she demonstrates the collapse of democratic values that has occurred in other Western countries—including America—as we struggle against radical Islam. In doing so, she shows how the Western response to the threat of radicalization has at times gone to dangerous extremes, counterbalancing the multiculturalists' indulgence of radical Islam with the creation of restrictive, nearly-totalitarian laws and measures that are as destructive and toxic to our future-to free thought, free speech, and equal rights. Radical State uniquely articulates the dissolution of democratic values that have resulted from the actions of both left- and right-wing approaches to the problem. More importantly, the book strives to resolve the critical question of "what went wrong"—because to set things right again requires understanding how it all broke apart—and we must set it right, or jihad's victory over democracy will be complete, and sooner than we may realize.
Download or read book New Thinking in Islam written by Katajun Amirpur and published by Gingko Library. This book was released on 2016-11-15 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Rethinking Islam, Katajun Amirpur argues that the West’s impression of Islam as a backward-looking faith, resistant to post-Enlightenment thinking, is misleading and—due to its effects on political discourse—damaging. Introducing readers to key thinkers and activists—such as Abu Zaid, a free-thinking Egyptian Qur’an scholar; Abdolkarim Soroush, an academic and former member of Khomeini’s Cultural Revolution Committee; and Amina Wadud, an American feminist who was the first woman to lead the faithful in Friday Prayer—Amirpur reveals a powerful yet lesser-known tradition of inquiry and dissent within Islam, one that is committed to democracy and human rights. By examining these and many other similar figures’ ideas, she reveals the many ways they reject fundamentalist assertions and instead call for a diversity of opinion, greater freedom, and equality of the sexes.
Download or read book Democratic Development Political Terrorism written by William J. Crotty and published by UPNE. This book was released on 2005 with total page 592 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This timely collection of original essays examines the global link between democratic development and political terrorism, delving into the difficult questions, challenges, far-reaching consequences, and uncertainties of dealing with terrorism on an international scale.
Download or read book The War of Ideas written by Walid Phares and published by St. Martin's Press. This book was released on 2007-02-20 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From Afghanistan and Iraq to Europe and the United States we are engaged in one of the most heated wars of all time. In this incisive new book, the man that has been called--the only one to understand the mind of the jihadist--shows that the most important battle is actually taking place in the hearts and minds of the world's population. This is the war of ideas, where ideology is the most powerful weapon of all. Phares explores the beliefs of two opposing camps, one standing for democracy and human rights, and the other rejecting the idea of an international community and calling for jihad against the West. He reveals the strategies of both sides, explaining that new technologies and the growing media savvy of the jihadists have raised the stakes in the conflict. And most urgently, he warns that the West is in danger of losing the war, for whereas debate and theorizing rarely translate into action here, ideas and deeds are inextricably linked for the forces of jihad.
Download or read book Democratic Jihad written by Nils Petter Gleditsch and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page 68 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Democracies rarely if ever fight one another, but they participate in wars as frequently as autocracies. They tend to win the wars in which they participate. Democracies frequently build large alliances in wartime, but not only with other democracies. From time to time democracies intervene militarily in ongoing conflicts. The democratic peace may contribute to a normative justification for such interventions, for the purpose of promoting democracy and eventually for the promotion of peace. This is reinforced by an emerging norm of humanitarian intervention. Democracies may have a motivation to intervene in non-democracies, even in the absence of ongoing conflict, for the purpose of regime change. The recent Iraq War may be interpreted in this perspective. A strong version of this type of foreign policy may be interpreted as a democratic crusade. The paper examines the normative and theoretical foundations of democratic interventionism. An empirical investigation of interventions in the period 1960-96 indicates that democracies intervene quite frequently, but rarely against other democracies. In the short term, democratic intervention appears to be successfully promoting democratization, but the target states tend to end up among the unstable semi-democracies. The most widely publicized recent interventions are targeted on poor or resource-dependent countries in non-democratic neighborhoods. Previous research has found these characteristics to reduce the prospects for stable democracy. Thus, forced democratization is unpredictable with regard to achieving long-term democracy and potentially harmful with regard to securing peace. But short-term military successes may stimulate more interventions until the negative consequences become more visible.
Download or read book Civilian Jihad written by M. Stephan and published by Springer. This book was released on 2009-12-07 with total page 341 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines the role of nonviolent civil resistance in challenging tyranny and promoting democratic-self rule in the greater Middle East using case studies and analyses of how religion, youth, women, technology and external actors have influenced the outcome of civil resistance in the region.
Download or read book Democratic Jihad Military Intervention and Democracy written by Nils Petter Gleditsch and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Democracies rarely if ever fight one another, but they participate in wars as frequently as autocracies. They tend to win the wars in which they participate. Democracies frequently build large alliances in wartime, but not only with other democracies. From time to time democracies intervene militarily in ongoing conflicts. The democratic peace may contribute to a normative justification for such interventions, for the purpose of promoting democracy and eventually for the promotion of peace. This is reinforced by an emerging norm of humanitarian intervention. Democracies may have a motivation to intervene in non-democracies, even in the absence of ongoing conflict, for the purpose of regime change. The recent Iraq War may be interpreted in this perspective. A strong version of this type of foreign policy may be interpreted as a democratic crusade. The paper examines the normative and theoretical foundations of democratic interventionism. An empirical investigation of interventions in the period 1960-96 indicates that democracies intervene quite frequently, but rarely against other democracies. In the short term, democratic intervention appears to be successfully promoting democratization, but the target states tend to end up among the unstable semi-democracies. The most widely publicized recent interventions are targeted on poor or resource-dependent countries in non-democratic neighborhoods. Previous research has found these characteristics to reduce the prospects for stable democracy. Thus, forced democratization is unpredictable with regard to achieving long-term democracy and potentially harmful with regard to securing peace. But short-term military successes may stimulate more interventions until the negative consequences become more visible.
Download or read book Democratic Jihad Military Intervention and Democracy written by Nils Petter Gleditsch and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page 62 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Democracies rarely if ever fight one another, but they participate in wars as frequently as autocracies. They tend to win the wars in which they participate. Democracies frequently build large alliances in wartime, but not only with other democracies. From time to time democracies intervene militarily in ongoing conflicts. The democratic peace may contribute to a normative justification for such interventions, for the purpose of promoting democracy and eventually for the promotion of peace. This is reinforced by an emerging norm of humanitarian intervention. Democracies may have a motivation to intervene in non-democracies, even in the absence of ongoing conflict, for the purpose of regime change. The recent Iraq War may be interpreted in this perspective. A strong version of this type of foreign policy may be interpreted as a democratic crusade. The paper examines the normative and theoretical foundations of democratic interventionism. An empirical investigation of interventions in the period 1960-96 indicates that democracies intervene quite frequently, but rarely against other democracies. In the short term, democratic intervention appears to be successfully promoting democratization, but the target states tend to end up among the unstable semi-democracies. The most widely publicized recent interventions are targeted on poor or resource-dependent countries in non-democratic neighborhoods. Previous research has found these characteristics to reduce the prospects for stable democracy. Thus, forced democratization is unpredictable with regard to achieving long-term democracy and potentially harmful with regard to securing peace. But short-term military successes may stimulate more interventions until the negative consequences become more visible.
Download or read book Political Islam World Politics and Europe written by Bassam Tibi and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2008-03-25 with total page 334 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is concerned with political Islam and in particular the global challenges posed by Islamists and Jihadists.
Download or read book The Confrontation Winning the War against Future Jihad written by Walid Phares and published by St. Martin's Press. This book was released on 2008-03-18 with total page 308 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Future Jihad, terrorism and Middle East expert Walid Phares gave a definitive account of the historical and cultural forces that led to September 11 and the rise of radical Islam. In The War of Ideas, he revealed the conflict of ideologies that underlie the War on Terror. Now, in The Confrontation, he identifies the clashes to come and provides a blueprint for defeating the forces of jihad. Moving from the ravaged villages of the Sudan to London's Muslim neighborhoods to the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan, he illuminates the vast and complex world of the global jihadist movement. He offers a multi-pronged strategy, global in scope, and calls on the world's diverse local and international institutions to come together and coordinate their efforts. Pointing the way forward, this book shows how we might reclaim a world that is safe for freedom and democratic societies.
Download or read book With All Our Might written by Will Marshall and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2006 with total page 298 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book outlines a new strategy that applies the organizing principles of progressive internationalism-national strength, free enterprise, liberal democracy, U.S. leadership for collective security-to the new challenge of defeating Islamist extremism. That plan, as set forth in detail in this book, revolves around five progressive imperatives for national security: * First, we must marshal all of America's manifold strengths, starting with our military power but going well beyond it, for the struggle ahead. * Second, we must rebuild America's alliances, because democratic solidarity is one of our greatest strategic assets. * Third, we must champion liberal democracy in deed, not just in rhetoric, because a freer world is a safer world. * Fourth, we must renew U.S. leadership in the international economy and rise to the challenge of global competition. * Fifth, we must summon from the American people a new spirit of national unity and service. In sum, the progressive strategy detailed in this book takes advantage of all of our country's strengths, not just the big stick of military power. It seeks to unite, not polarize and divide, our people. It links the defense of liberty abroad with a new determination to press progressive reforms at home. It calls on all Americans-not just our men and women in uniform-to share the burden of prevailing in what is likely to be a long, arduous and costly struggle. Published in cooperation with the Progressive Policy Institute
Download or read book The Islamic Shield written by Elie Elhadj and published by Universal-Publishers. This book was released on 2006 with total page 250 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: While politicians and media pundits debate the success of U.S. attempts to instill a democratic government in Iraq, author and social scientist Elie Elhadj, Ph.D., explains why thoughts of a democratic Arab-Muslim nation are nothing but fantasy."Arab people are characterized by obedience to a hierarchical authority, Syrian-born Elhadj states. Western-style democracy can never fill this cultural mandate."Elhadj explains how Muslim Arab political and religious leaders raise the tenets of Islam in a shield against democracy in order to protect their power. Constant preaching by Islam's religious leaders, instructing Muslims to blindly obey their leaders, has created an attitude of political quietism in regard to the tyranny of Arab rulers and ambivalence towards democracy, Elhadj says in his book.Using Syria and Saudi Arabia as the archetypal Arab governments, The Islamic Shield outlines the numerous reasons why genuine democratic reforms are not likely to emerge in Arab countries for a very long time. Instead, Elhadj proposes that a benevolent dictatorship may be a more hopeful and realistic expectation, especially since democratic elections are likely to result in the election of a theocratic dictator rather than a secular democratic one. A benevolent dictatorship would fulfill the goal of reducing Arab rulers' cruelty, which fans the flame of Islamic extremism and Jihadism, he states.Jihadism and its causes are examined in detail by Elhadj. He makes the case that Jihadist terrorism is fueled by the oppression and frustration of the Arab masses that results not only from tyrannical Arab rule, but also from the perception of biased American policies in the Middle East. Combined with the growing influence from extremist factions within Islam, these oppressions form a vicious cycle of violent confrontation, Elhadj says."Islamist extremism alone does not cause terrorism," Elhadj states: "What Islamist extremism does is to turn political frustrations into religious crusades."The United States may even have created a set-back for themselves in the effort to democratize the Middle East, Elhadj says. As the United States deposed the Arab World's most secular regime in Iraq, a theocratic leadership aligned to Tehran emerged with potentially far-reaching regional political and religious consequences.
Download or read book Democratic Responses To Terrorism written by Leonard B. Weinberg and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2007-12-30 with total page 279 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Democratic Responses to Terrorism tackles how to protect democratic societies against terrorist violence while, at the same time, making sure that the steps democracies take to protect themselves do no fundamental harm to the rule of law and the rights of citizens. With a foreword by Fernando Henrique Cardoso, former president of Brazil, the essays here assess such elements as the role of the legal framework, human rights, democracy and civil society, as well as international cooperation. The series explores one of the most pressing issues of our time: how to reconcile the need to fight terrorism with our desire to protect and enhance democratic values. The volumes are an outgrowth of a summit conference organized by the Club de Madrid, an independent organization comprised of many former heads of state, dedicated to strengthening democracy around the world.
Download or read book Jihad written by Gilles Kepel and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2002 with total page 468 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Kepel has traveled throughout the Muslim world gathering documents, interviews, and archival materials, in order to give readers a comprehensive understanding of the scope of Islamist movements, their past, and their present. 7 maps.
