Beyond Terror and Martyrdom: The Future of the Middle EastSince 2001, two dominant worldviews have clashed in the global arena: a neoconservative nightmare of an insidious Islamic terrorist threat to civilized life, and a jihadist myth of martyrdom through the slaughter of infidels. Across the airwaves and on the ground, an ill-defined and uncontrollable war has raged between these two opposing scenarios. Deadly images and threats—from the televised beheading of Western hostages to graphic pictures of torture at Abu Ghraib, from the destruction wrought by suicide bombers in London and Madrid to civilian deaths at the hands of American occupation forces in Iraq—have polarized populations on both sides of this divide. |
Contents
FROM THE WAR ON TERROR TO THE FIASCO IN IRAQ | 13 |
MARTYRDOM OPERATIONS AMONG SHIITES AND SUNNIS | 63 |
THE THIRD PHASE OF JIHAD | 110 |
MISSTEPS OF MULTICULTURALISM | 172 |
THE PROPAGANDA BATTLE IN EUROPE | 214 |
THE CHALLENGE OF CIVILIZATION | 257 |
NOTES | 281 |
| 297 | |
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS | 305 |
| 307 | |