Radical Islam and International Security

Radical Islam poses a political challenge in the modern world which is like that of no other radical religious movement. Ideologically, it is perceived by Western policy makers as threatening the liberal-democratic ideology by which most states in the West abide and which most other states rhetorically espouse. This book serves as a welcome addition to the intellectual and policy debate on the nature of the radical Islam phenomenon and how to respond to it. The collection is divided into three parts: the first part seeks to understand the Islamic challenge in broad comparative and historical terms, while the second part deals with specific regional case studies, which seek to identify patterns of uniformity and variation in radical Islam across a wide swath of terrain. The third part is policy-oriented, suggesting possible responses to the Islamic challenge. The contributors include distinguished researchers from Europe, North America and the Middle East. This book will be of much interest to students of Islamism, political violence, international security and Middle Eastern politics.

Efraim Inbar is a Professor in Political Studies at Bar-Ilan University and the Director of its Begin-Sadat (BESA) Center for Strategic Studies. He is author of five books and editor of nine collections of articles. Hillel Frisch is a senior lecturer in the Departments of Political Science and History of the Middle East at Bar-Ilan University.

Introduction Part 1: The Challenge of Radical Islam: General Themes Religious Extremism or Religionization of Politics? The Ideological Foundations of Political Islam Bassam Tibi. Islam from Flexibility to Ferocity Ze'ev Maghen. An Economic Perspective on Radical Islam Arye Hillman Part 2: The Islamist Challenge: Case Studies The Rise of Jihadi Trends in Saudi Arabia: The Post Iraq-Kuwait War Phase Joseph Kostiner. Islamic Radicalism and Terrorism in the European Union: The Maghrebi Factor Michael Laskier. Explaining the Causes of Radical Islam in Europe Jonathan Paris. The Evolution of Iranian Interventionism: Support for Radical Islam in Turkey, 1982-2003 Yasemin Akbaba and Patrick James. The Islamic Dimension of Pakistan's Foreign Policy Rushda Siddiqui Part 3: Responding to the Islamist Challenge The Potential Dangers of a "Real" Jihad Max Singer. Deterring Those Who Are Already Dead? Laurent Murawiec. Fighting Terrorism with Democracy? Daniel Byman. Counter-Terrorist Strategies Jonathan Stevenson