Rethinking Islamism: the ideology of the new terror

209 Pages·2007·2.11 MB·English

by  Meghnad Desai

RETHINKING฀ISLAMISM
‘Meghnad฀Desai฀has฀given฀us฀a฀much฀needed฀guide฀to฀the฀
complex฀role฀of฀Islam฀in฀current฀geopolitical฀conflicts.฀Bringing฀
together฀a฀wealth฀of฀historical฀knowledge฀with฀powerful฀insights฀
into฀globalisation,฀he฀shows฀that฀Global฀Islam฀is฀a฀revolutionary฀
movement฀in฀many฀ways฀like฀those฀of฀the฀twentieth฀century.฀
This฀is฀a฀book฀that฀deserves฀to฀be฀very฀widely฀read.’
J฀G,฀Professor฀of฀European฀Thought฀
฀at฀the฀London฀School฀of฀Economics฀and฀author฀of฀
฀Al฀Qaeda฀and฀What฀It฀Means฀To฀Be฀Modern฀(Faber)
‘Like฀Maynard฀Keynes,฀Meghnad฀Desai฀is฀so฀much฀more฀than฀
an฀economist.฀He฀has฀something฀arresting฀and฀original฀to฀say฀on฀
almost฀any฀subject,฀and฀in฀this฀book฀he฀has฀brilliantly฀turned฀his฀
formidable฀mind฀and฀erudition฀to฀the฀most฀urgent฀issue฀of฀the฀
contemporary฀world฀–฀one฀which฀we฀misjudge฀at฀our฀peril.’
R฀S,฀Professor฀of฀Political฀Economy฀฀
at฀the฀University฀of฀Warwick฀and฀author฀of฀฀
The฀World฀After฀Communism:฀A฀Polemic฀for฀Our฀Times
RETHINKING฀ ISLAMISM
The฀Ideology฀of฀the฀New฀Terror
฀ 
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Copyright฀©฀Meghnad฀Desai฀
The฀right฀of฀Meghnad฀Desai฀to฀be฀identified฀as฀the฀author฀of฀this฀work฀฀
has฀been฀asserted฀by฀him฀in฀accordance฀with฀the฀Copyright,฀฀
Designs฀and฀Patents฀Act,฀
All฀rights฀reserved.฀Except฀for฀brief฀quotations฀in฀a฀review,฀this฀book,฀or฀any฀
part฀thereof,฀may฀not฀be฀reproduced,฀stored฀in฀or฀introduced฀into฀a฀retrieval฀
system,฀or฀transmitted,฀in฀any฀form฀or฀by฀any฀means,฀electronic,฀mechanical,฀
photocopying,฀recording฀or฀otherwise,฀without฀the฀prior฀written฀permission฀of฀
the฀publisher.
฀ ฀฀฀฀
A฀full฀CIP฀record฀for฀this฀book฀is฀available฀from฀the฀British฀Library฀
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Contents
฀ ฀ Preface฀ vii
฀ ฀ London,฀/฀ 
฀ ฀ Introduction฀ 
฀ ฀ The฀Route฀to฀/฀ 
฀฀ Religion฀and฀Ideology฀฀ 
฀฀฀ The฀Ideology฀of฀Global฀Islamism฀ 88
฀ ฀ Combating฀Global฀Islamism฀ 
฀ ฀ Winning฀the฀War฀against฀Terrorism฀ 
฀ ฀ Notes฀ 
฀ ฀ References฀ 
฀ ฀ Index฀ 

Preface
London฀experienced฀the฀new฀terrorism฀on฀฀July฀฀when฀four฀
bombs฀were฀detonated฀around฀the฀city.฀In฀the฀debate฀and฀dis-
cussion฀that฀followed฀I฀noticed฀that฀there฀was฀too฀much฀focus฀on฀
Islam฀as฀a฀religion฀and฀on฀Muslims฀as฀a฀community,฀as฀if฀each฀de-
served฀examination฀as฀a฀likely฀pathology฀which฀led฀to฀the฀bombs.฀
I฀expressed฀my฀disagreement฀with฀such฀views฀in฀a฀letter฀that฀was฀
published฀in฀the฀Financial฀Times฀on฀฀August฀.฀I฀argued฀there฀
that฀what฀caused฀the฀terrorism฀was฀not฀Islam฀as฀a฀religion฀or฀even฀
the฀lifestyle฀or฀culture฀of฀Muslims฀in฀Britain฀but฀an฀ideology,฀
Global฀Islamism,฀whose฀nature฀had฀to฀be฀grasped฀if฀we฀were฀to฀
fight฀terrorism.฀I฀drew฀an฀analogy฀between฀Soviet฀Communism฀
and฀Global฀Islamism฀as฀ideologies฀which฀had฀an฀anti-Western฀
agenda฀and฀asked฀whether฀we฀could฀combat฀one฀ideology฀as฀we฀
did฀the฀other.฀The฀letter฀elicited฀a฀response฀by฀Martin฀Wolf฀in฀
the฀FT฀as฀well฀as฀some฀correspondence.฀I฀was฀then฀approached฀by฀
Alex฀Wright฀of฀I.B.฀Tauris฀and฀invited฀to฀submit฀a฀book฀proposal฀
developing฀my฀argument.
viii ฀
This฀short฀book฀–฀really฀an฀extended฀essay฀–฀is฀the฀result.฀I฀
examine฀the฀history฀of฀the฀Middle฀East฀over฀the฀last฀hundred฀years.฀
I฀look฀at฀the฀nature฀of฀ideology฀in฀general,฀examining฀Marxism–
Leninism,฀anarchism,฀Nazism฀and฀nationalism฀as฀likely฀analogues฀to฀
Global฀Islamism.฀The฀core฀of฀the฀book฀is฀devoted฀to฀a฀careful฀study฀
of฀Osama฀Bin฀Laden’s฀speeches฀and฀fatwas.฀Whatever฀people฀may฀
think฀of฀his฀terrorist฀activities,฀the฀ideology฀Bin฀Laden฀has฀fash-
ioned,฀Global฀Islamism,฀remains฀a฀powerful฀force฀that฀will฀outlive฀
him.฀Al-Qaeda฀is฀a฀threat฀not฀because฀it฀has฀training฀camps,฀finance฀
and฀bombs,฀but฀because฀it฀is฀a฀brand฀for฀this฀ideology฀which,฀like฀a฀
virus,฀can฀spread฀globally.฀In฀fighting฀terrorists฀we฀need฀intelligence,฀
police฀and฀international฀cooperation.฀But฀in฀fighting฀terrorism,฀we฀
need฀to฀grasp฀the฀nature฀of฀the฀ideology,฀which฀is฀easy฀to฀spread฀
and฀difficult฀to฀counter.฀I฀devote฀therefore฀a฀chapter฀to฀the฀lessons฀
we฀have฀learnt฀from฀fighting฀other฀ideologies฀that฀will฀be฀useful฀in฀
countering฀Global฀Islamism.
The฀book฀was฀written฀substantially฀over฀the฀Christmas฀break฀in฀
.฀While฀I฀was฀reading฀the฀proofs,฀on฀฀August฀฀(exactly฀a฀
year฀after฀my฀FT฀letter),฀yet฀another฀case฀of฀an฀alleged฀terrorist฀plot฀
to฀detonate฀bombs฀on฀planes฀was฀revealed.฀There฀was฀also฀a฀month-
long฀war฀between฀Israel฀and฀Hezbollah฀on฀the฀Israel–Lebanon฀
border,฀and฀between฀Israel฀and฀Hamas฀in฀the฀Gaza.฀I฀have฀done฀the฀
necessary฀updating฀but฀kept฀it฀to฀a฀minimum,฀as฀my฀essay฀seemed฀
to฀be฀just฀as฀relevant฀now.฀I฀trust฀readers฀will฀agree.
I฀am฀grateful฀to฀John฀Gray,฀Sayyed฀Nadeem฀Kazmi฀and฀Robert฀
Skidelsky฀for฀reading฀the฀manuscript฀and฀saying฀supportive฀things.฀
I฀am฀grateful฀to฀the฀librarians฀of฀the฀House฀of฀Lords฀library฀for฀
obtaining฀books฀and฀documents.฀As฀always,฀Kishwar฀Desai฀was฀a฀
source฀of฀help฀and฀inspiration.฀I฀thank฀them฀all.
September฀