The book is a critique of Islamic fundamentalism, modernist rationalism and imperialism. It argues that there is a firm relationship between Islamism and the religion of Islam and that Muslims today need a new Islamic discourse.

Offering a unique analysis of Islamist ideology, Islamism and the West attempts to explain how- and why-mainstream Islamist leaders have, for the past century, developed and canonized theories which depict theWest as engaged in a sophisticated conspiracy to undermine Muslim identity by cultural means, while morallycollapsing and yearning for the spiritual salvation brought by Muslim migrants. This book demonstrates how seemingly triumphalist Islamist writings served, in fact, to legitimize pragmatic concessions undertaken by Islamists – from cooperating with regimes allied with the West, to encouraging Muslim migration to Christian lands. Following the Arab Spring, and with Islamism becoming a dominant force in Middle Eastern politics, Islamism and the West is an essential reading for the understanding of a region in transition Providing new insights on familiar concepts including ‘cultural imperialism,’ ‘liberal democracy,’ and ‘civilisational decline,’ this book will be of use to students of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies, Political Science, Migration Studies and Cultural Studies.

Winner of the William A. Douglass Prize in Europeanist Anthropology The emergence of an Islamist movement and the startling buoyancy of Islamic political parties in Turkey--a model of secular modernization, a cosmopolitan frontier, and NATO ally--has puzzled Western observers. As the appeal of the Islamist Welfare Party spread through Turkish society, including the middle class, in the 1990s, the party won numerous local elections and became one of the largest parties represented in parliament, even holding the prime ministership in 1996 and 1997. Welfare was formally banned and closed in 1998, and its successor, Virtue, was banned in 2001, for allegedly posing a threat to the state, but the Islamist movement continues to grow in popularity. Jenny White has produced an ethnography of contemporary Istanbul that charts the success of Islamist mobilization through the eyes of ordinary people. Drawing on neighborhood interviews gathered over twenty years of fieldwork, she focuses intently on the genesis and continuing appeal of Islamic politics in the fabric of Turkish society and among mobilizing and mobilized elites, women, and educated populations. White shows how everyday concerns and interpersonal relations, rather than Islamic dogma, helped Welfare gain access to community networks, building on continuing face-to-face relationships by way of interactions with constituents through trusted neighbors. She argues that Islamic political networks are based on cultural understandings of relationships, duties, and trust. She also illustrates how Islamic activists have sustained cohesion despite contradictory agendas and beliefs, and how civic organizations, through local relationships, have ensured the autonomy of these networks from the national political organizations in whose service they appear to act. To illuminate the local culture of Istanbul, White has interviewed residents, activists, party officials, and municipal administrators and participated in their activities. She draws on rich experiences and research made possible by years of firsthand observation in the streets and homes of Umraniye, a large neighborhood that grew in tandem with Turkey’s modernization in the late 20th century. This book will appeal to anthropologists, sociologists, historians, and analysts of Islamic and Middle Eastern politics.

Islam's relationship to liberal-democratic politics has emerged as one of the most pressing and contentious issues in international affairs. In Islam, Secularism, and Liberal Democracy, Nader Hashemi challenges the widely held belief among social scientists that religious politics and liberal-democratic development are structurally incompatible. This book argues for a rethinking of democratic theory so that it incorporates the variable of religion in the development of liberal democracy. In the process, it proves that an indigenous theory of Muslim secularism is not only possible, but is a necessary requirement for the advancement of liberal democracy in Muslim societies.

Political Ideologies and the Democratic Ideal analyzes and compares political ideologies to help readers understand individual ideologies, and the concept of ideology, from a political science perspective. This best-selling title promotes open-mindedness and develops critical thinking skills. It covers a wide variety of political ideologies from the traditional liberalism and conservatism to recent developments in identity politics, green politics, and radical Islamism. NEW TO THIS EDITION An expanded account of the right to vote and the U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision. A new section on "fusionist" conservatism that attempts to ally different kinds of conservatives. A discussion of Putin’s post-Soviet expansion of Russia’s territory and influence, the apparent rebirth of "Mao Zedong thought" in China, and the ideology of Juche in North Korea. Coverage of "democratic socialism" in the context of Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign. Updates on fascism past and present. A more in-depth account of the origins of black liberation and a discussion of the new "Black Lives Matter" movement. New directions in feminist theory and the impact of the Supreme Court’s decision on same-sex marriage. An account of Pope Francis’s 2015 encyclical on the environment and humans’ duty to protect it. An expanded discussion of radical Islamism, especially with regard to the varieties of Islamism, the rise of the Islamic State (ISIS), and the effects of recent terrorist attacks on national and international politics. Discussion questions added to the end of each chapter. Additional graphs and photos throughout. An updated, author-written Instructor’s Manual and Test Bank.

This study explores the socio-political role of Islamist movements in Arab and Middle Eastern countries. It investigates the effect of resource distribution on the moderation or radicalization of Islamist movements in Sudan, Morocco, Tunisia, and Egypt. It proposes that high resource mobilization and concentration by Islamist movements lead to radicalization, while resource distribution between Islamist and non-Islamist actors results in moderation. The transition process in Arab countries has shown that Islamists' superiority as a social movement brings their political and cultural discourse closer to the mainstream than their secular opponents, such as in Egypt and Sudan, but this has led to political instability, the overthrow of the political process, and the failure to achieve a democratic transition. So, when the inclusion-moderation hypothesis is raised, we should examine which form of inclusion leads to moderation and what conditions exist in the resource distribution structure that can cause radicalization or moderation. In other words, moderation occurs if certain conditions are met in the structure of a balanced or semi-balanced distribution of resources, with a tendency towards non-Islamist forces. This work addresses a void in current scholarly work by offering an in-depth examination of Islamist movements’ influence during the Arab uprisings. It explores the causal link between resource accumulation and the degree of moderation or radicalization within political movements and reveals the circumstances that result in ideological moderation following inclusion.

Since September 11, Western governments have legitimized and empowered "nonviolent Islamists" as representatives of Islam for all Muslims in the West, an approach that has worried Muslim moderates. Citizen Islam addresses the implications of this approach. The book opens with an overview of the theology and history of Islam, to show that violence and intolerance are not fundamental aspects of the religion. It then explains the growth of Islamism in Europe and in the United States before suggesting that both are finally beginning to recognize the threat posed by nonviolent Islamists. Lastly, it outlines steps that Western and Muslims leaders can take to strengthen moderate Islam and counter the threat of Islamism. Written by Zeyno Baran, a Turkish-born Muslim, Citizen Islam sheds a sharp light on Muslim communities in the West. It concludes that there is much that Western governments can still do to reverse the spread of Islamism. But they must act quickly.

The Philippines is an archipelago with 7,107 islands, with a population of around 60 million, using 87 different language dialects that reflect the number of ethnic groups and communities. Muslims in the Philippines call themselves ”Moro”. But this name is actually political, because in reality Moro consists of many ethno linguistic groups, for example Maranow, Maquindanau, Tausuq, Somal, Yakan, Ira Nun, Jamampun, Badjao, Kalibugan, Kalagan and Sangil. In connection with actions of terorrism, the international communities have articulated and done about confronting threats directly, engaging the enemy, disrupting terrorist networks, denying enemies safe haven, building international coalitions, forging treaties that reinforce the rule of law, denying the enemy weapons of mass destruction, and changing the conditions that terrorists exploit.

How do ideologies shape international relations in general and Middle Eastern countries' relations with the United States in particular? The Clash of Ideologies by Mark L. Haas explores this critical question. Haas's central claim is that leaders' ideological beliefs are likely to have profound effects on these individuals' perceptions of international threats. These threat perceptions, in turn, shape leaders' core security policies, including choices of allies and enemies and efforts to spread their ideological principles abroad as a key means of advancing their interests.Two variables are particularly important in this process: the degree of ideological differences dividing different groups of decision makers ("ideological distance"), and the number of prominent ideologies that are present in a particular system ("ideological polarity"). The argument is tested in four case studies of states' foreign policies, primarily since the end of the Cold War: Iran, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Turkey. As the argument predicts, ideological differences in these cases were a key cause of international conflict and ideological similarities a source of cooperation. Moreover, different ideological groups in the same country at the same time often possessed very different understandings of their threat environments, and thus very different foreign policy preferences. These are findings that other prominent international relations theories, particularly realism, cannot explain. The purposes of the book go beyond advancing theoretical debates in the international relations literature. It also aims to provide policy guidance on key international security issues. These prescriptions are designed to advance America's interests in the Middle East in particular, namely how U.S. leaders should best respond to the ideological dynamics that exist in the region.

Hamas is typically portrayed in the West as nothing more than a terrorist organisation. Yet as Michael Irving Jensen discovers, it also provides medical clinics, kindergartens, schools, elderly care and football training to the population of the West Bank and Gaza. Using a combination of interviews and participant observation, Jensen examines how these forms of social engagement relate to the organisation's official ideology, which is still characterised by extremism and violence. "The Political Ideology of Hamas" is the first attempt to provide a multidimensional picture of this organisation by looking at how it is perceived by the leadership, the rank-and-file, and the ordinary Palestinians who come into contact with it. By comparing the rhetoric of the leadership with the social reality, Jensen opens up new ways of understanding Islamist movements in general.