Islam and the Myth of Confrontation: Religion and Politics in the Middle East

by Fred Halliday

This volume sets out to reject anti-Islamic views of a future dominated by the conflict between "Islam" and "the West". It has been revised to encompass the events of 11 September 2001, spiralling violence in the Middle East and President George Bush's proposed identification of an "axis of evil". Considering the sources of Islamic militancy and analyzing the confrontational rhetoric of both Islamic and anti-Muslim demagogues, Halliday provides an alternative, critical, but cautious, reassessment. The Middle East, he argues, can be treated neither as a distinct nor as a unified region, but must be seen as a set of disparate societies, facing and reacting to the problems of economic development and political change.

Genres: Middle East, Politics, Islam, Nonfiction, Religion, History

272 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Simon Frederick Peter Halliday, FBA (22 February 1946 in Dublin, Ireland – 26 April 2010 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain) was an Irish writer and academic specialising in International Relations and the Middle East, with particular reference to the Cold War, Iran, and the Arabian peninsula.

Reviews

[Samy · Rating 3 out of 5]

يحاول الدكتور هاليداى فى هذا الكتاب أن يوضح أكذوبة المواجهةبين الأسلام والدول الأخرى على إعتبار أنه العدو الجديد للحضارة ويستعرض الدكتور هاليداى العديد والعديد من الأفكار الرائجة والمنتشرة عن الإسلام فى الغرب
وعلى الرغم من جودة عرض الدكتور هاليداى ومحاولته الجيدة إلا أنى أرى أنه لم يحالفه التوفيق فى العديد من النقاط وأعتقد أن ذلك نتج لإعتماده على مصادر المستشرقين والتى تحتوى على العديد من الأخطاء

[Stephen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Attempting to analyze Islam and the Middle East from a Marxist perspective is wholly unproductive. Fred is a smart guy, but he's way off base here.