Inside Jihadism: Understanding Jihadi Movements Worldwide

by Farhad Khosrokhavar

Book Overview

Jihad is the most organized force against Western capitalism since the Soviet era. Yet jihadism is multifaceted and complex, much broader than Al Qaeda alone. In the first wide-ranging introduction to today's rapidly growing jihadism, Khosrokhavar explains how two key movements variously influence jihadi activists. One, based in the Middle East, is more heavily influenced by Islamic religion and political thought. The other, composed of individuals growing up or living mostly in Europe and Western democracies including the United States, is motivated by secular as well as religious influences. Khosrokhavar interprets religious and lesser-known Arabic texts and the real-world economic and political dynamics that make jihadism a growing threat to Western democracies. Interviews with imprisoned jihadists on what motivated their plots and actions help the readers understand reality as seen by jihadists. The author concludes with recommendations to safeguard democracies from future jihadism.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1594516162
• ISBN13: 9781594516160
• Release Date: March 2009
• Publisher: Routledge
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.9" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

Close to the problem

A French Sociology professor, Farhad Khosrokhavar is in a good position to relate some of the underpinnings of Jihadism, mostly through a European lens. His political spectrum runs from Reformist to Fundamentalist, to Hyper-Fundamentalist to Jihadist. He is able to cogently organize Koranic verses to explain the interpretations a radical Islamist uses as his (or occasionally, her) justifications for violence. He also picks pertinent quotes from influential Jihadist writing to support the Jihadist philosophy. These justifications support an underlying anomie, sense of humiliation and frustration that Khosrokhavar generally ascribes to Western domination and lack of respect for Islamic values, and also Western support of autocratic Islamic regimes. He actually uses interviews with jailed Jihadists to illustrate his points, but their limited and proscribed viewpoints do not much advance his argument. I was somewhat disappointed that Khosrokhavar, in a good position to do so, did not use his sociological or psychological insight to interpret the true mindset of a suicide bomber, in terms that Westerners could use, if certainly not sympathize, with. Unforunately, Khosrokhavar does not present much of a solution for the syndrome he has carefully illuminated. He feels the West must forbear against a completely uncompromising and rigid pathology which self-admittedly seeks to destroy it. It is true that escalating the mutual antipathy between Jihadists and Western Culture is unlikely to be productive, even were it possible. He also believes that a Reformist interpretation of Koranic aggression would be essential, though his prescription, as even he admits, goes against current educational Islamic norms, and any Western support for reform would only be a kiss of death. Nevertheless, he feels that Jihadism, which is a negative and life-destroying worldview, can give no long-term success to the House of Islam in its struggle against the House of War.