Download or read book The Coming Balkan Caliphate written by Christopher Deliso and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2007-06-30 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Balkans—the gateway between East and West—are also Europe's soft underbelly, a rough neighborhood where organized crime and terrorism present a constant threat. This eye-opening book details how 15 years of misguided Western interventions, political scheming, and local mafia appeasement, compounded by a massive infusion of Arab cash, fundamentalist Islamic preaching and mosque-building have allowed radical Islamic groups to fill in the cracks between internal ethnic and religious schisms and take root in key areas of the Balkans. With all eyes currently focused on the widening conflict in the Middle East and the terrorist threat coming from the region, the West is in danger of overlooking a potent new battleground in the greater war on terror—the Balkans. This historically volatile region saw some of the worst violence of the late 20th century in the Yugoslav Wars of Secession. During these conflicts, stunningly shortsighted and politically motivated policies of the United States and its allies directly allowed Islamic mujahedin and terrorist-related entities to establish a foothold in the region—just as with the progenitors of the Taliban a decade earlier in Afghanistan. Although the 9/11 attacks caused a partial reassessment of Western policy, it may already be too late for a region still largely ignored. The proliferation of foreign fundamentalist groups has had a cancerous effect on traditional Balkan Islamic communities, challenging their legitimacy in unprecedented and often violent ways. Well-funded groups like the Saudi-backed Wahabbis continue to exploit internal schisms within local communities, while the international administrations in Bosnia and Kosovo have actually strengthened the grip of local mafia groups—business partners of terrorists. Worst of all, the Western peacekeepers' chronic don't rock the boat mentality has allowed extremist groups to operate unchallenged. Nevertheless, regional demographic and cultural trends, coinciding with an increasingly hostile attitude in the larger Muslim world over Western military actions and perceived symbolic provocations, indicate that the lawless Balkans will become increasingly valuable as a strategic base for Islamic radicals over the next two decades. Utilizing the post-al-Qaeda tactics of a decentralized jihad carried out through small, independent cells (leaderless resistance) while seeking to fundamentally and violently remold Muslim societies, such Balkan-based extremists pose a unique and tangible threat to Western security.
Download or read book The Inevitable Caliphate written by Reza Pankhurst and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2013 with total page 294 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Discusses the Caliphate in the ideas and discourse of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hizb ut-Tahrir and al-Qaeda.
Download or read book Defense against Terrorism written by M. Coen and published by IOS Press. This book was released on 2019-04-02 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Global terrorism is a double-edged threat to democracies. Physically, because of the number of people killed and wounded, structurally, because it threatens social peace and over-reaction tends to undermine our basic values. The authors of the chapters in this book are multinational and interdisciplinary. Their papers were presented for discussion at the Advanced Research Workshop (ARW) held in Skopje (FYROM) 11-14th April 2018 on “Defence Against Terrorism, Enhancing Resilience of Democratic Institutions and Rule of Law”, organized within the NATO Science for Peace and Security Programme. Results can be summarised as follows. Counter-terrorist strategy must aim to achieve less, not more, terrorism. The countries with best results are the ones that cultivate human intelligence, confidence between security services and the local population, together with a tradition of effective respect of the Rule of Law. Militarization of internal security, and intelligence systems mainly based on databases (“big data”) and artificial intelligence, though popular, are showing serious limits. More effective democracy, not less, is the key to the resilience of our societies against the “new threats”, particularly for confronting the criminal violence of terror. In discussion, some core necessities were identified: to recognize that it is the method used, not the aims, that define criminal organisations as terrorist; that there is a structural link with organized crime for financing and operative support, and that corruption facilitates and protects any illegal activity; social capital must be developed as a fundamental basic tool for enhancing resilience. This book aims to help analyse the networks and contexts that feed terrorism. It provides anyone confronted with security issues an understanding of the negative as well as the positive aspects of specific counter-measures.
Download or read book The World Almanac of Islamism written by and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2011 with total page 899 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The World Almanac of Islamism written by American Foreign Policy Council and published by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. This book was released on 2011-10-27 with total page 900 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The World Almanac of Islamism is the first comprehensive reference work to detail the current activities of radical Islamist movements worldwide. The contributions, written by subject experts, provide annual updates on the contemporary Islamist threat in all countries and regions where it exists.
Download or read book Religion and Politics in Post Socialist Central and Southeastern Europe written by S. Ramet and published by Springer. This book was released on 2014-01-31 with total page 456 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume examines the political engagement of religious associations in the post-socialist countries of Central and Southeastern Europe, with a focus on revelations about the collaboration of clergy with the communist-era secret police, intolerance, and controversies about the inclusion of religious instruction in the schools.
Download or read book The Revival of Islam in the Balkans written by Olivier Roy and published by Springer. This book was released on 2015-07-28 with total page 349 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book shifts analytical focus from macro-politicization and securitization of Islam to Muslims' choices, practices and public expressions of faith. An empirically rich analysis, the book provides rich cross-country evidence on the emergence of autonomous faith communities as well as the evolution of Islam in the broader European context.
Download or read book Balkan Fighters in the Syrian War written by Tanja Dramac Jiries and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2021-09-15 with total page 200 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book analyses the process of the recruitment of foreign fighters from the Western Balkans, specifically Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo, to Syria and Iraq from 2012 to 2015. Utilizing in-depth, semi-structured interviews with foreign fighters and their families, as well as a number of relevant stakeholders it answers the question of what were the processes and circumstances leading up to the departure of foreign fighters from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo and what informed their agency? The author draws on the theories of social movement approaches, more specifically, contentious politics literature and utilizes the specific concepts of triggering mechanisms, which refer to the enabling circumstances that make the radicalization and departure possible, and pleasure in agency, to elaborate on individual motivation. The book also shows how a wider state- fragility within the context of the post-Yugoslav wars and the transitional period that never ended, aided radicalization and how an incomplete process of post-war transition can fuel the process of political and religious radicalization creating a wider enabling web for recruitment. It will be of interest to students and scholars of Southeast European politics and foreign policy, post-war democratic transition, security policy and radicalization more broadly.
Download or read book The World Almanac of Islamism 2017 written by American Foreign Policy Council and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2017-12-18 with total page 1159 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Now in its third edition, The World Almanac of Islamism is the first comprehensive reference work to detail the current activities of radical Islamist movements worldwide. The contributions, written by subject expert, provide up-to-date assessments on the contemporary Islamist threat in all countries and regions where it exists. Each country study will include valuable metrics for gauging the advance or decline of Islamism. In places where Islamists are not in power, these include year-on-year comparisons of the number of terrorist attacks that have taken place, the level of popular support being received by radical religious organizations and political parties, and applicable government responses to these trends, if any. In places where they are in power, metrics encompass relevant changes to domestic human rights practices and social conditions, foreign policy rhetoric and action, and the overall stability of the state.
Download or read book The World Almanac of Islamism 2019 written by American Foreign Policy Council and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2019-04-30 with total page 1587 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Now in its fourth edition, The World Almanac of Islamism is the first comprehensive reference work to detail the current activities of radical Islamist movements worldwide. The contributions, written by subject expert, provide up-to-date assessments on the contemporary Islamist threat in all countries and regions where it exists. Each country study will include valuable metrics for gauging the advance or decline of Islamism. In places where Islamists are not in power, these include year-on-year comparisons of the number of terrorist attacks that have taken place, the level of popular support being received by radical religious organizations and political parties, and applicable government responses to these trends, if any. In places where they are in power, metrics encompass relevant changes to domestic human rights practices and social conditions, foreign policy rhetoric and action, and the overall stability of the state.
Download or read book Return of the Balkans written by Janusz Bugajski and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page 222 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For the first time in its modern history the entire Balkan Peninsula has the opportunity to co-exist under one security and developmental umbrella combining NATO and the European Union (EU). Unfortunately, European and American leaders have been unable to complete such a unique historic vision, while the progress of several Western Balkan countries continues to be undermined by a plethora of political, social, economic, ethnic, and national disputes. This monograph focuses on the escalating security challenges facing the Western Balkans, assesses the shortcomings and deficiencies of current international engagement, considers future prospects for U.S. military involvement, and offers recommendations for curtailing conflict and promoting the region's international institutional integration. In particular, to prevent the future deployment of U.S. forces, more comprehensive strategic intelligence gathering is needed, together with the identification of local and foreign political actors promoting instability, early warning signals regarding impending conflicts, and a commitment to incorporate all countries in the region into NATO and the EU.
Download or read book The Balkans in Travel Writing written by Marija Knežević and published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing. This book was released on 2015-09-18 with total page 295 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book revisits images of the Balkans in twentieth-century travel writing that vividly mirrors the turbulent changes that the region went through. As such, it provides a vital basis for research into the variety of possibilities, or obstacles, present on the region’s path to accession, when its unique heritage will have to be reconciled with a more European identity. This volume explores the work of well-known authors, such as Rebecca West, Paul Theroux, Robert D. Kaplan, and also contributes to travel writing theory by addressing less-known travellers who recorded their thoughts on the social dynamics of the region. The corpus offers divergent and often contradictory views, ranging from moral and political criticism to a delight in the rich heritage and the still “undiscovered” Balkan paths. More importantly, its generic potentials prove to overcome both the discourse of power and the discourse of apology. Its narrative style also comprises striking variations, from the objective and well-researched approaches to quick impressionist sketches. Being a multi-generic form, travel writing is observed from a multidisciplinary perspective, encompassing fields such as literature, linguistics, history, sociology, anthropology, ethnology, political sciences, and geography.
Download or read book Islam in the Balkans Oxford Bibliographies Online Research Guide written by Oxford University Press and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2010-05-01 with total page 21 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This ebook is a selective guide designed to help scholars and students of Islamic studies find reliable sources of information by directing them to the best available scholarly materials in whatever form or format they appear from books, chapters, and journal articles to online archives, electronic data sets, and blogs. Written by a leading international authority on the subject, the ebook provides bibliographic information supported by direct recommendations about which sources to consult and editorial commentary to make it clear how the cited sources are interrelated related. A reader will discover, for instance, the most reliable introductions and overviews to the topic, and the most important publications on various areas of scholarly interest within this topic. In Islamic studies, as in other disciplines, researchers at all levels are drowning in potentially useful scholarly information, and this guide has been created as a tool for cutting through that material to find the exact source you need. This ebook is a static version of an article from Oxford Bibliographies Online: Islamic Studies, a dynamic, continuously updated, online resource designed to provide authoritative guidance through scholarship and other materials relevant to the study of the Islamic religion and Muslim cultures. Oxford Bibliographies Online covers most subject disciplines within the social science and humanities, for more information visit www.aboutobo.com.
Download or read book Europe Space for Transcultural Existence written by Martin Tamcke and published by Universitätsverlag Göttingen. This book was released on 2013 with total page 294 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Europe - Space for Transcultural Existence? is the first volume of the new series, Studies in Euroculture, published by Göttingen University Press. The series derives its name from the Erasmus Mundus Master of Excellence Euroculture: Europe in the Wider World, a two year programme offered by a consortium of eight European universities in collaboration with four partner universities outside Europe. This master highlights regional, national and supranational dimensions of the European democratic development; mobility, migration and inter-, multi- and transculturality. The impact of culture is understood as an element of political and social development within Europe. The articles published here explore the field of Euroculture in its different elements: it includes topics such as cosmopolitanism, cultural memory and traumatic past(s), colonial heritage, democratization and Europeanization as well as the concept of (European) identity in various disciplinary contexts such as law and the social sciences. In which way have Europeanization and Globalization influenced life in Europe more specifically? To what extent have people in Europe turned 'transcultural'? The 'trans' is understood as indicator of an overlapping mix of cultures that does not allow for the construction of sharp differentiations. It is explored in topics such as (im)migration and integration, as well as cultural products and lifestyle. The present economic crisis and debt crisis have led, as side-result, to a public attack on the open, cosmopolitan outlook of Europe. The values of the multicultural and civil society and the idea of a people's Europe have become debatable. This volume offers food for thought and critical reflection.
Download or read book Shi a Minorities in the Contemporary World written by Oliver Scharbrodt and published by Edinburgh University Press. This book was released on 2020-06-18 with total page 344 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Global migration flows in the 20th century have seen the emergence of Muslim diaspora and minority communities in Europe, North America and other parts of the world. This book offers a set of new comparative perspectives on the experiences of Shi'a Muslim minorities outside the so-called Muslim heartland (Middle East, North Africa, Central and South Asia). It looks at Shiʻa minority communities in Europe, North and South America, Sub-Saharan Africa and East Asia and discusses the particular challenges these communities face as "a minority within a minority"--
Download or read book Europeanization and Statebuilding as Everyday Practices written by Vjosa Musliu and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2021-05-17 with total page 156 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book provides a critical understanding of Europeanization and statebuilding in the Western Balkans, using the notion of everyday practices. This volume argues that it is everyday and mundane events that provide the entry points to showcase a broader set of practices of Europeanization in countries outside the EU. It does this by tracing notions of Europeanization in the everyday statebuilding of Kosovo, Europe Day celebrations in Bosnia and Herzegovina, urban politics in Tirana, and space and place making in Skopje. In doing so, the book shows that everyday events tell us that as much as it is about changing structures, institutions, and economic models, Europeanization is also about changing behaviours and ideas in populations at large. At the same time, the work shows that countries outside the EU use everyday events to perform their belonging to Europe. This book will be of much interest to students of European Studies, Balkan politics, statebuilding, and International Relations generally.
Download or read book Islamic Movements of Europe written by Frank Peter and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2014-09-08 with total page 484 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'Islam in Europe' and 'Islamophobia' are subjects of vital global importance which currently preoccupy policy-makers and academics alike. Through the examination of various European Muslim groups and institutions that have branched off from Islamic movements - including the Muslim Brotherhood, Hizb ut-Tahrir and Jama'at-i Islami - this book outlines the configuration of social, political and religious processes that have given rise to new kinds of European Muslim organisations. The authors offer a new perspective on these Muslim groups and seek to reclaim them from the often highly-charged public debates by placing them within the context of their origins as politicised religious movements on the one hand and their ongoing incorporation into European societal structures on the other. They also consider the relationship of these organisations to their 'parent' movements and examine the presence of Islam in European education and higher education institutions. Taking into account the connection between Islamic movements and the perceived surge of 'Islamophobia' in Europe, this book does not debate the question of whether these groups fit into normative or cultural structures of European nation-states, but rather examines how these structures have changed through their interaction with these groups and the growing Muslim population within Europe. It does not consider political Islam as the antithesis to a refined notion of secularism, but as a form of public religion which contributes to the ever-changing structure of Europe's secular regimes. Featuring the work of more than 40 scholars from around the world, this is the comprehensive guide to Islamic movements in Europe, offering original, definitive perspectives on Muslims and Islam in Europe today. It will be essential reading for policy-makers, political commentators and scholars alike.
