The Receding Shadow of the Prophet: The Rise and Fall of Radical Political Islam - Hardcover

Takeyh, Ray; Gvosdev, Nikolas K.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0275976289 ISBN 13: 9780275976286

Publisher: Praeger, 2004

Synopsis

The tragic events of September 11, 2001, in the United States renewed fears of an Islamist wave destabilizing the countries of the Muslim world. Yet the alarm raised over a previous wave of Islamism in the early 1990s, which threatened to overwhelm Egypt and Algeria and spill into the Balkans and Central Asia, proved to be unfounded. Takeyh and Gvosdev assert that while Islamism has been successful as an oppositional ideology of wrath, it has failed to provide Islamic societies with any feasible alternative to undertaking fundamental political and economic reforms. By detailing the defeat of Islamist movements in the Middle East, the Balkans, and Central Asia over the last decade, this book encourages us not to overestimate the Islamist threat in the current climate and the years to come.

Radical Islamists have been successful in mobilizing opposition to corrupt regimes, yet they have failed to translate their utopian vision into reality. Furthermore, their emphasis on violence alienates and frightens the middle class and other potential allies. Iran's revolution failed to create a model Islamic republic, and its government is increasingly losing legitimacy to demands for genuine democracy. Islamist governments in Afghanistan and Sudan relied upon violence to remain in power and ultimately collapsed. Islamist movements proved unable to dislodge the existing regimes in Egypt and Algeria. In the Balkans and Central Asia, Islamism has had little attraction for Western-oriented populations. Indeed, throughout the entire Islamic world, former radicals are seeking a new accommodation between Islamic values and liberal democracy. Takeyh and Gvosdev succinctly and accessibly explore the rise of radical Islam, as well as its ultimate demise in various nations.

About this title

About the Author

Ray Takeyh is a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, where he concentrates his work on Iran, Islamist movements, and Middle Eastern politics. He has held positions at the National Defense University, Yale, and Berkeley. His work has appeared in Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, the Financial Times, and the International Herald Tribune.

Reviews

A cursory look at predominantly Muslim societies today might reinforce the image of a resurgent, militant Islamic fundamentalism poised to seize political power domestically and to confront the West both ideologically and via terrorism. But, according to the authors, a calmer, closer examination leads to a far different conclusion. They acknowledge that radical Islamic movements have successfully highlighted the corruption and failures of various incumbent regimes in Muslim nations. The more extreme movements have also shown they can carry out acts of violence, sometimes on a massive scale, on foreign soil. However, Takeyh and Gvosdev assert that Islamists have dismally failed to present a workable model for governance of a nation state. In Egypt and Algeria, despite the use of violence, they have failed to dislodge secular regimes. In Iran, while the mullahs cling to power, they are widely despised by an increasingly youthful and restive population, and they have failed to bring the prosperity they promised. This is an important, provocative work, bound to evoke controversy among general readers and scholars. Jay Freeman
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Edition details

• Publisher: Praeger
• Publication date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0275976289
• ISBN 13: 9780275976286
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 208