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What were the reasons behind the terrorist attacks of September 11th? Does the cause of Islamist terrorism relate to the lack of democracy in the Middle East? Through detailed research into the activities of both radical and moderate organizations across the Middle East, such as the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas and Hizbullah, and via interviews with key personnel, Katerina Dalacoura investigates whether repression and political exclusion pushed Islamist entities to adopt terrorist tactics. She also explores whether inclusion in the political process has had the opposite effect of encouraging Islamist groups toward moderation and ideological pragmatism. In a challenge to the conventional wisdom, she concludes that Islamist terrorism is not a direct consequence of authoritarianism in the Middle East and that there are many key factors that generate radicalism.
Annette Ranko analyses the Muslim Brotherhood’s challenging of the Mubarak regime and the ensuing struggle between the two from 1981 to 2011. She furthermore traces how the group evolved throughout the process of that struggle. She studies how the Brotherhood’s portrayal of itself as an attractive alternative to the regime provoked the Mubarak regime to level anti-Brotherhood propaganda in the state-run media in order to contain the group’s appeal amongst the public. The author shows how the regime’s portrayal of the Brotherhood and the Brotherhood’s engagement with it have evolved over time, and how this ideational interplay has combined with structural institutional aspects in shaping the group’s behaviour and ideology.
This book discusses various dynamic facets of the life of Rāshid al-Ghannūshi̇̄, a distinguished Islamic thinker and activist not only in Tunisia and North Africa, but in the entire Muslim world. It especially focuses on those aspects related to his intellectual understanding and response to a number of critical contemporary issues. In the 21st Century, Rāshid al-Ghannūshi̇̄ is considered as the most moderate among the Muslim thinkers and intellectuals, particularly when it comes to the question of Islam-democracy compatibility and power sharing theory. This book also offers an account of a previously little known, yet much talked about Muslim voice in the post-Arab Spring era. It further shows how the intellectual Muslim thinkers’ own perspectives and expectations from Islamic movement(s) and their interaction with the ‘western oriented local leadership’, as well as their (secular) policies color their understanding of Islam and various other major issues.
ItalyÆs Foreign Policy in the Twenty-First Century: The New Assertiveness of an Aspiring Middle Power, edited by Giampiero Giacomello and Bertjan Verbeek, shows how changes in ItalyÆs international and domestic environment since the early 1990s have affected ItalyÆs foreign policy and raised its aspiration to become, and be treated as, a middle power. The contributors theoretically engage with both rationalist and constructivist accounts of middle-power. The contributors theoretical engage with both rationalist and constructivist accounts of middle-power behavior. They reveal that the end of the Cold War, the advent of globalization, and the rise in institutionalized regional cooperation ...
As the topic of political Islam gains increased visibility in international politics and current affairs, it has become more difficult to navigate the vast literature that is devoted to explaining this phenomenon. This reader provides the student with an accessible and comprehensive introduction to the study of political Islam. Offering a clear route to the most influential literature in the field, the diverse range of viewpoints presented allows students to obtain a detailed, authoritative and critical perspective on the most pressing questions of the post-9/11 era. With detailed introductory chapters and clear presentation of existing literature, thematically-arranged sections cover: moder...
The city of Beirut is increasingly congested, polluted and suffocating. Its already limited green public spaces are under growing threat of privatisation and redevelopment. The State Otherwise examines the difficult predicament of Beirut’s public green spaces from the vantage point of the civic campaign to reopen Horsh al Sanawbar, the city’s largest public park. Analysing the relationship between neoliberal sectarianism, private interest and political action, the book asks questions about the nature of privatisation of public property, civic society’s potential to mobilise individuals and the role of public authorities in promoting the public good.
This Handbook uses a comprehensive study of political institutions, social movements and external pressures to offer nuanced study of politics in the Middle East. Foremost scholars on the Middle East examine key themes such as political change, regional rivalry and authoritarianism, making this collection very timely and relevant as an authoritative source.