Gen Ed 1123: Islam and Politics in the Modern Middle East

This book examines the late 20th-century process of democratic reform in Islamic countries. Concentrating on Algeria in particular, Volpi addresses the problem of the radicalization of political Islam in the region and suggests possible solutions to the security and foreign policy dilemmas linked to international terrorism. Volpi also considers the role of oil resources, which give Algeria great international, geo-strategic, and economic importance.

Dealing with Shiism in the Middle East as a whole, Louer's book looks at the sect's political transformation after the Islamic Revolution and the fall of Baathist Iraq, paying particular attention to the changing role of the clergy, the rise of lay authorities, and transnational patterns of religious thought and practice that cannot be divided by neatly marked national categories.

Mobilizing Islam explores how and why Islamic groups succeeded in galvanizing educated youth into politics under the shadow of Egypt's authoritarian state. Moving beyond the simplistic accounts of "Islamic fundamentalism" offered by much of the Western media, Wickham offers an alternative explanation of the Islamic movement's dramatic growth in the world's largest Arab state.

Drawing on more than 100 in-depth interviews and Arabic language sources previously unavailable to Western researchers, Wickham traces the evolution of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt from its founding in 1928 to the elections of 2011-2012.The Brotherhood's trajectory is compared with those of mainstream Islamist groups in Jordan, Kuwait, and Morocco, revealing a wider pattern of change.

Gilles Kepel takes us into the world of the students, professionals, workers, and unemployed who are caught up in the Islamic movements of our day. Events that have riveted world attention -- the World Trade Center bombing, assassinations in Beirut, the attempt on the life of the Pope, the assassination of Sadat -- are illuminated by this penetrating study which surveys the background of the Islamist movement beginning with the Muslim Brotherhood in 1928.

Sayyid Qutb (1906-1966) was an influential Egyptian ideologue who established the theoretical basis for radical Islamism in the postcolonial Sunni Muslim world. He is often portrayed as a terrorist, Islamo-Fascist, and advocate of murder. An expert on social protest and political resistance, John Calvert rescues Qutb from misrepresentation and follows the evolution of his thought within the context of his time.

First published in 1969, this book has been the standard source for the history the Muslim Brethren up to the time of Nasser. After having been out of print for over a decade, this reissue of the classic work makes it accessible to a new generation of scholars and students

Following the remarkable resurgence of Islamic political activism in recent decades, radical Islamic movements now have a presence in almost every Muslim country and form the major opposition forces to the established regimes in the Middle East. This important book deepens our understanding of contemporary Islam by providing a definitive history of the mother organization of all modern Islamic movements -- the Society of the Muslim Brothers, founded in 1928.

As the architect of the Iranian Revolution of 1979, Ayatollah Khomeini remains one of the most enigmatic figures of the twentieth century. The revolution placed Iran at the forefront of the Islamic revival. Arshin Adib-Moghaddam brings together distinguished scholars to consider Khomeini in all his aspects: as politician, philosopher, and spiritual leader, while considering his legacy in Iran, in other parts of the Islamic world, and in the West.

Ervand Abrahamian discusses Iranian society and politics during the last century. He gives particular attention to the constitutional movement of the 1900s, the communist Tudeh party of the 1940s, the nationalist struggle of the early 1950s, and the Islamic upsurgence of the 1970s.

Iranian politics has been marked by sharp ideological divisions and infighting which came to greater light in the contested 2009 presidential elections. This book discusses the historical roots of Iran's current divisions on fundamental issues of identity, culture, and governance; the aging of the revolutionary coalition; the development of new elites; the experiences of the Islamic republic; and the new international conditions moving the country beyond old divides and ideological rifts toward a new national consensus.

Comparing fundamentalist movements in early 20th century United States and 1960s and 1970s Iran--Martin Riesebrodt examines each developed, not simply as a protest against industrialization and "modernity" but also as a mobilization, morally and politically, against threats to a community's conventional values. Fundamentalists in both periods desired a return to a social order governed by God's law, and by patriarchal structures of authority and morality.

The history of the Islamic movement in Jordan contrasts with its counterparts like Egypt, Iran, and Syria. Instead of the frequent, bloody confrontations that have characterized Islamic opposition in these countries, the Jordanian Muslim Brothers have been nonviolent often defending the state against radical ideologies. This book explains the situation in Jordan in terms of ideology, politics, and the relationship between the dominant classes and the Muslim Brothers.

This book examines the ideology and social base of the Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood from its founding in 1945.

Introduces the reader to the sprawling, heavily populated Palestinian refugee camp, in South Lebanon, at Ain al-Helweh, which in the early 1990s became a site for militant Sunni Islamists.

A prominent figure of the Islamic renaissance in her native Morocco and internationally, Yassine offers a frank examination of Islamic history and critical assessment of the relation between Islam and the West, past, present and future.

Zeghal analyses the historical roots and evolution of Moroccan Islamist movements in the context of a new political system that combines pluralistic electoral competition with authoritarian government.

What has Revelation to do with the mind and the liberation of the mind? How can faith be renewed and the mind reawakened? How are contentment and tranquility achieved?

The author's intention is to "focus on one of the essential realities that Revelation sets forth clearly and repeatedly, and for which it coins parables, but which readers of the Qur'an pass by and fail to notice.

This report presents the results of a comprehensive review of the English-language literature on militant Islamic movements in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Islamic radical groups, often viewed as monolithic, are in reality far from homogeneous in outlook or the strategies and tactics that they use to achieve their goals. This review thus focuses on the diversity of religious beliefs held by non-state armed groups (militants) and the relationship between those beliefs and their overall objectives.

Based on extensive fieldwork during the Oslo peace process, this study shows how the social service activities sponsored by the Islamist group emphasized not political violence but rather community development and civic restoration. Roy demonstrates how Islamic social institutions in Gaza and the West Bank advocated a moderate approach to change and attempted to create civic communities, not religious congregations.

With unprecedented access to a closed culture, Lacroix offers an account of Islamism in Saudi Arabia. Tracing the last half-century of the Sahwa, or Islamic Awakening, he explains the brand of Islam that gave birth to Osama bin Laden -- one that has been exported, and dangerously misunderstood, around the world.

Subjects: Islamic fundamentalism -- Saudi Arabia.
Political stability -- Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia -- Politics and government -- 21st century.

The terms Wahhabi or Salafi are seen as interchangeabe, but even Saudis do not agree on their meaning. Under the influence of mass education, printing, new communication technology, and global media, they are forming their own conclusions and debating religion and politics in traditional and novel venues, often violating official taboos and the conservative values of the Saudi society. The author also examines ways states and citizens manipulate religious discourse for political ends.

A comprehensive account of the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood's history to date. The author draws on previously untapped sources: the memoirs of former Syrian jihadists; British and American archives; and interviews with the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood's historical leaders as well as those who battled against them - many speaking on the record for the first time.

Contemporary studies on Syria assume that the country's Ba'thist regime has been effective in subduing its Islamic opposition. Yet this assumption founders when confronted with the clear resurgence in Islamic militantism in the country since 2004. Who are today's Syrian Islamic groups? Why are they re-emerging after 22 years of relative silence as an important socio-economic and political force?