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Al Qaeda and What It Means to Be Modern
While many Americans view the September 11th terrorist attack as the act of an anachronistic and dangerous sect, one that champions medieval and outmoded ideals, John Gray here argues that in fact the ideology of Al Qaeda is both Western and modern, a by-product of globalization’s transnational capital flows and open borders. Indeed, according to Gray, Al Qaeda’s utopian zeal to remake the world in its own image descends from the same Enlightenment creed that informed both the disastrous Soviet experiment and the new neoliberal dream of a global free market.
In this “excellent short introduction to modern thought” (The Guardian), first published in 2003, Gray warns that the United States, once a champion of revolutionary economic and social change, must now understand its new foes. He also confronts some of the faults he perceives in Western ideology: the faith that global development will eradicate war and hunger, trust in technology to address the coming catastrophe of population explosion, and the belief that democracy is an infallible institution that can serve as political panacea for all.
In this “excellent short introduction to modern thought” (The Guardian), first published in 2003, Gray warns that the United States, once a champion of revolutionary economic and social change, must now understand its new foes. He also confronts some of the faults he perceives in Western ideology: the faith that global development will eradicate war and hunger, trust in technology to address the coming catastrophe of population explosion, and the belief that democracy is an infallible institution that can serve as political panacea for all.
145 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2003
17 people are currently reading
604 people want to read
About the author
John Gray
51 books899 followersJohn Nicholas Gray is a English political philosopher with interests in analytic philosophy and the history of ideas. He retired in 2008 as School Professor of European Thought at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Gray contributes regularly to The Guardian, The Times Literary Supplement and the New Statesman, where he is the lead book reviewer.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 46 reviews
May 10, 2019
Readers familiar with Gray's work will find a lot of similarities with his previous books (Straw Dogs, Gray's Anatomy): the idea that improvements in science and technology do not necessarily result in improvements in ethics; that modernity does not bring about universalization of liberal, secular ideals; that Enlightenment thought imitates the millenarian and eschatological characteristics of Christianity. I have disagreements with a lot of what Gray has written, particularly the spurious connections he tends to make between Positivism, Christianity and Marxism, but never have I been disappointed with anything he has written.
I went into this book expecting an analysis of how revolutionary terrorists of the 19th and 20th centuries have influenced radical Islamists, but there is little of that to be found here. Gray provides a short history of Positivism, Counter-Enlightenment, and the free market, but little about the links between modernity, Al Qaeda and Radical Islam. Those looking for a detailed analysis of what this book's purported subject is, would prefer reading Tariq Ali's Clash of the Fundamentalists.
I went into this book expecting an analysis of how revolutionary terrorists of the 19th and 20th centuries have influenced radical Islamists, but there is little of that to be found here. Gray provides a short history of Positivism, Counter-Enlightenment, and the free market, but little about the links between modernity, Al Qaeda and Radical Islam. Those looking for a detailed analysis of what this book's purported subject is, would prefer reading Tariq Ali's Clash of the Fundamentalists.
March 30, 2015
Although I like John Gray I wasn't a fan of this book. The thesis has less to do with what the title may suggest and for the most part it is a huge exercise in dreary pessimism about the trajectory of modern societies. Straw Dogs contained elements of this too but it was mixed with enough insights into the really interesting issue - the continuities and mutations of "pre-modern" thought in our modern ideologies, as well as the incoherence of many of the latter - to make it a great book. This on the other hand makes a few passing points but focuses otherwise on the collapse Gray sees around the corner, which he might be right about but that isn't a particularly novel or interesting observation.
Had this book focused more on what the title suggested, the huge influence of modern European revolutionary ideologies on Muslim terrorist organizations, it would've been interesting. It is a thesis Gray endorses, and there are a few passing points on this, but for the most part the topic is not focused upon, to the detriment of the work writ large.
Had this book focused more on what the title suggested, the huge influence of modern European revolutionary ideologies on Muslim terrorist organizations, it would've been interesting. It is a thesis Gray endorses, and there are a few passing points on this, but for the most part the topic is not focused upon, to the detriment of the work writ large.
March 10, 2021
Informative
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 10, 2011
Science makes progress; humanity does not. The fallacy that the advance of science inevitably leads to the advance of ethics and politics is a defining trait of modernity, argues Gray. The belief, beginning in the seventeenth and reaching full flower in the 19th, that science will usher in a new age of peace and prosperity and universal (i.e., uniform) culture and rationality is the faith of modernity.
What does this have to do with al Qaeda? Just as it was - nay, is - believed that science can remake the world - ostensibly by changing human nature - al Qaeda and several other 19th and 20th century terrorist groups believe that the world and human nature along with it, can be remade through terror. Gray argues that al Qaeda has more in common with nineteenth century European revolutionary movements, particularly the anarchists, than any medieval movement. "If Osama bin Laden has a precursor, it is the nineteenth century Russian terrorist Sergei Nechaev," writes Gray.
The fixation on the creation of a single uniform culture and the transformation of human nature are modern fixations. They are held equally by neo-liberal utopians whose faith is in the free market and by al Qaeda.
The universalist message of both Christianity and Islam are precursors to their modern children, but, at least in the case of Islam, the pre-modern faith found ways to accommodate diversity without insisting on hegemony (see Muslim Spain, the Mughals, and the Ottoman Empire.) For this reason, the answer to the problems of diversity and conflict are not hegemony, but discovering, or rediscovering, or inventing, or reinventing, ways to live together separately.
What does this have to do with al Qaeda? Just as it was - nay, is - believed that science can remake the world - ostensibly by changing human nature - al Qaeda and several other 19th and 20th century terrorist groups believe that the world and human nature along with it, can be remade through terror. Gray argues that al Qaeda has more in common with nineteenth century European revolutionary movements, particularly the anarchists, than any medieval movement. "If Osama bin Laden has a precursor, it is the nineteenth century Russian terrorist Sergei Nechaev," writes Gray.
The fixation on the creation of a single uniform culture and the transformation of human nature are modern fixations. They are held equally by neo-liberal utopians whose faith is in the free market and by al Qaeda.
The universalist message of both Christianity and Islam are precursors to their modern children, but, at least in the case of Islam, the pre-modern faith found ways to accommodate diversity without insisting on hegemony (see Muslim Spain, the Mughals, and the Ottoman Empire.) For this reason, the answer to the problems of diversity and conflict are not hegemony, but discovering, or rediscovering, or inventing, or reinventing, ways to live together separately.
July 12, 2019
In one word, provocative.
In two words, incredibly provocative...
John challenges all the premises of the liberal left and modern Western thought - that history is linear, progress builds on itself, and neoliberal free market economics is the great salvation of mankind.
The title is a misnomer, while the author ties Al Qaeda's notion of salvation to Western theology, the book is not really focused around the origins or the development of the Islamist network.
The author's core thesis is darker in nature, but perhaps more accurate. Simply, that there is no universal ideology - whether it's marxism, progressivism, or neoliberalism - that is broad enough to engender a universal set of values or philosophy for all of humanity. Rather, he argues that the world's multitude of cultures are each rooted in their own unique history, and as such, it is natural for societies to diverge from uniformity as they evolve.
Published in 2003, John's message feels prophetic in nature given the current state of affairs in the world.
Worthwhile read for those interested in history, political-economy, or philosophy.
In two words, incredibly provocative...
John challenges all the premises of the liberal left and modern Western thought - that history is linear, progress builds on itself, and neoliberal free market economics is the great salvation of mankind.
The title is a misnomer, while the author ties Al Qaeda's notion of salvation to Western theology, the book is not really focused around the origins or the development of the Islamist network.
The author's core thesis is darker in nature, but perhaps more accurate. Simply, that there is no universal ideology - whether it's marxism, progressivism, or neoliberalism - that is broad enough to engender a universal set of values or philosophy for all of humanity. Rather, he argues that the world's multitude of cultures are each rooted in their own unique history, and as such, it is natural for societies to diverge from uniformity as they evolve.
Published in 2003, John's message feels prophetic in nature given the current state of affairs in the world.
Worthwhile read for those interested in history, political-economy, or philosophy.
July 1, 2009
A very important book. The first thing I’ve read that systematically gets Al Qaeda right, as far as I can tell. That is, that Al Qaeda is essentially Western; another breakdown in Western society in response to Modernity, in the same way anarchism or nihilism or militias or other extreme movements were. It has the same vision of a revolutionary vanguard that will remake the world that Marxism, Fascism, and other radical modern political movements have had. It’s like a fusion of Fundamentalist Islam and Bakunin. Grey correctly locates the fundamental danger of the modern world in the urge on the part of any group to use technology to radically remake society. Also, he emphasizes Al Qaeda is another consequence of post-nation-state globalization(and probably the first of many similar movements), and must be addressed as such. It is an ideology and a movement, not a discrete group of people and not ultimately defeatable by attacking states or killing individuals. He paints a bleak picture of the coming decades, but I’m afraid a largely correct one.
September 27, 2011
Al Quaeda and What It Means to Be Modern by John Gray is quite short, but very provocative. He packs a lot of ideas into a 119-page book. He manages to include several different threads:
*The idea that modern doesn’t necessarily mean liberal and secular.
*The global aspects of the marketplace and its effects, as well as the existence of different types of successful markets.
*The issue of resources and the social and political impact as the source of the issue.
*The rise of unconventional warfare on the global level.
*Dollar diplomacy and American hegemony and the rise of American imperialism.
*He stresses the accidents of history that have brought us to where we are.
He is particularly good on “the original modernizers” and as he should be, since he is a professor of European Thought at the London School of Economics. It is basically a criticism of American "one size fits all" approach to foreign policy, but very it is stimulating and fascinating. It stays with you long after reading it.
*The idea that modern doesn’t necessarily mean liberal and secular.
*The global aspects of the marketplace and its effects, as well as the existence of different types of successful markets.
*The issue of resources and the social and political impact as the source of the issue.
*The rise of unconventional warfare on the global level.
*Dollar diplomacy and American hegemony and the rise of American imperialism.
*He stresses the accidents of history that have brought us to where we are.
He is particularly good on “the original modernizers” and as he should be, since he is a professor of European Thought at the London School of Economics. It is basically a criticism of American "one size fits all" approach to foreign policy, but very it is stimulating and fascinating. It stays with you long after reading it.
September 13, 2015
A brilliant scholarly and intellectual analysis of the roots of Al-Qaeda that challenges the common claim that it is a medieval organisation. Instead, Professor John Gray argues that, like Soviet Communism and Nazism, Al-Qaeda is a very modern outfit, whose origins can be traced back to the Enlightenment, the progress of science, and the Positivist movement, and the idea that society cannot just be altered, but totally reimagined through a combination of religious fundamentalism and propaganda by deed. Moreover, he argues that jihadism in its modern form would not be possible without the effects of globalisation; the free flow of capital, open borders, and technological progress in weaponry. Essential reading for anyone who wishes to understand our current crisis.
May 7, 2008
I've seen the pace of this book described as "giddy," which doesn't quite capture its breakneck speed and disjointed hopping from one subject to another. The style isn't my favorite, less because of pacing issues and more because Gray tends towards sweep and generality that starts to seem less like his style and more like poor thinking. The book makes quick, almost bulleted assertions without the proof and substance to back them up - which is a shame, because I get the sense that had Gray been clearer I'd agree with much of what he says. High points for boldness, low marks for persuasiveness and readability.
February 5, 2019
John N. Gray shakes your preconceived Ideas of what a modern society and the positivist illusion that as science progresses humanity does as well. The book gives an interesting history of Ideas and shows how Al-qaeda is a modern phenomenon. However I think his analysis of how Sayid Qutb caused extremism in Islam could have gone deeper since that is the title of this book. Nevertheless still a very interesting book.
August 19, 2012
Provocative and brilliant, like all of Gray's work. The philosophical argumentation is solid, but his geoplitical analysis is marred by reliance on the alarmist works of Michael Klare and James Lovelock which lend the same kind of determinism to his argument which he is criticizing in others.
March 3, 2021
کتاب نسبتا خوبی بود اکثرا اختصاص داده شده به مدرنیزه بودن
Read
May 10, 2021¿Ya dije que odio la universidad?
January 3, 2024
In just over 100 pages, John Gray provides a basic but informative introduction into the defining features of what it means to be modern.
Don't be mislead by the emphasis in the title of AQ which was a very minor part of the book. This cheeky decision was probably for marketing reasons (the book was publishes in 2003 after all). If anything, it may yet serve to reinforce the idea that modernity is a vast, nebulous reality that encompasses many disparate and seemingly unconnected things across all realms of human existence.
The book mainly traces the roots of Positivism, Marxism, Fascism and Neoliberalism and demonstrates how these quintessentially Western ideologies are all bound by the same mode of modern, enlightenment thinking that informs much of what happens in this day and age. For me, this was the best part of the book and better handled than the hurried treatment of AQ which was very surface-level and in the same vein as many other westerners who discuss 'radical Islam' while not really understanding what they are talking about.
Nevertheless, he does make an interesting observation: that the violent actions of AQ's and Russia's late-1800's revolutionaries are united by the belief that “a new world can be hastened by spectacular acts of destruction"—a parallel which speaks more to the nature of the modern world itself than of any specific actor. How this connects to the aforementioned Enlightenment ideologies is that they all believed that they could, through sheer will and force, remake the world in their image, imposing uniformity on humanity—which is what America has been seeking to do for decades in its post-war universalism project via constant wars, coups and IMF loans.
Ultimately, this central myth of modernity, Gray astutely argues, is doomed to fail. The world is as vast a place as human beings are complex and seeking to impose uniformity is a fools errand and will not make the world a better place. Furthermore, it eviscerates the very diversity that defines what it means to be human. Gray, rather, imagines "a future in which each country would be free to find its own version of modernity" and this statement deserves to be written in gold.
I look forward to reading more from Gray's corpus of works. He actually holds quite a fascinating and refreshing view of the world even if I don’t agree with it entirely.
Don't be mislead by the emphasis in the title of AQ which was a very minor part of the book. This cheeky decision was probably for marketing reasons (the book was publishes in 2003 after all). If anything, it may yet serve to reinforce the idea that modernity is a vast, nebulous reality that encompasses many disparate and seemingly unconnected things across all realms of human existence.
The book mainly traces the roots of Positivism, Marxism, Fascism and Neoliberalism and demonstrates how these quintessentially Western ideologies are all bound by the same mode of modern, enlightenment thinking that informs much of what happens in this day and age. For me, this was the best part of the book and better handled than the hurried treatment of AQ which was very surface-level and in the same vein as many other westerners who discuss 'radical Islam' while not really understanding what they are talking about.
Nevertheless, he does make an interesting observation: that the violent actions of AQ's and Russia's late-1800's revolutionaries are united by the belief that “a new world can be hastened by spectacular acts of destruction"—a parallel which speaks more to the nature of the modern world itself than of any specific actor. How this connects to the aforementioned Enlightenment ideologies is that they all believed that they could, through sheer will and force, remake the world in their image, imposing uniformity on humanity—which is what America has been seeking to do for decades in its post-war universalism project via constant wars, coups and IMF loans.
Ultimately, this central myth of modernity, Gray astutely argues, is doomed to fail. The world is as vast a place as human beings are complex and seeking to impose uniformity is a fools errand and will not make the world a better place. Furthermore, it eviscerates the very diversity that defines what it means to be human. Gray, rather, imagines "a future in which each country would be free to find its own version of modernity" and this statement deserves to be written in gold.
I look forward to reading more from Gray's corpus of works. He actually holds quite a fascinating and refreshing view of the world even if I don’t agree with it entirely.
February 24, 2017
«El mensaje de anarquismo revolucionario implícito en la afirmación de que “todo sistema que permita que unas personas gobiernen a otras ha de ser abolido” debe más a las ideas radicales europeas que se remontan a los jacobinos que a las ideas clásicas o tradicionales sobre la gobenanza islámica.
December 18, 2021
I like how this book highlights the similarities between terrorism and hegemony. One is the mirror of the other and both are expressions of modernity. Sadly a lot of the predictions he makes in this book come true and who clear headed enough to be listening to anything like this at the start of the Iraq war.
January 19, 2022
Challenges what modernity means. I really enjoyed the book. Easy to read, written like a popular non fiction book but Gray is an academic. I really enjoy his different perspective and often times I haven't heard an idea he puts forth.
April 17, 2025
Concise and coherent indictment of the "End of history" mindset.
Presciently un-prescient. Predicting 22 years ago that in spite of any current patterns or trends, the years to come are going to be entirely bewildering an unexpected.
They certainly were.
Presciently un-prescient. Predicting 22 years ago that in spite of any current patterns or trends, the years to come are going to be entirely bewildering an unexpected.
They certainly were.
February 18, 2018
fiquei fã de John N. Gray, alargou o meu conhecimento e visão acerca do mundo politico e economico
July 31, 2020
So much better than I expects, much less about Al Qaeda than I expected.
June 1, 2021
very interesting
November 29, 2021
Te veel details eromheen, te weinig over Al Qaida zelf.
March 13, 2024
This dude HATES the World Bank.
July 7, 2024
Didn't like it much except for 2 chapters on Al Queda
October 16, 2025
liked the essay on the positivists but ends at that for me
March 6, 2017
Terrorism for the purpose of changing the world order is a modern idea.
July 24, 2024
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 25, 2013
Short, and as thought-provoking as "straw dogs" and "black mass", but in the end not as convincing.
There are few related themes in the book, but perhaps the central theme is that the world becoming more modern does not imply the world becoming more similar. The core characteristics of modernity express themselves differently in different states and are very much shaped by local culture, traditions, and philosophy. And the same logic applies to values as well – despite the spread of technology and modernity we should not expect various cultural values to converge.
Al Qaeda is one of the few movements he looks at and shows how it supports his thesis. He does a quick analysis of Al Qaeda's history and operations, and shows that ironically, despite espousing the return to traditional values, Al Qaeda in its essence is modern. As such, and as John gray puts it, radical Islam is a symptom of a disease that it itself claims to be the cure.
Inversely, Gray also makes an argument that the West has fundamentalist tendencies, despite claiming modernity. The fact that the two are involved in a conflict makes irony particularly twisted, and even if the reader disagrees with line of reasoning one must admit it is quite clever. Read it and decide for yourself.
And of course both radical Islam and in the West try to transform the world in their own image and as such are utopian. Which brings us right back to the main thesis of the book.
There are a few other interesting tidbits thrown all around the book: role of positivists, the original modernizes; short history of free-market; reversion of 20th century ideological conflicts back to the Malthusian confrontations – Rwanda, Middle East; metamorphosis of Clausewitz style wars among the states into less circumscribed conflicts of “all against all”. Yes some arguments don't quite drive the point home and some ideas are a little specious, but overall it is an intellectually stimulating read and in the end that is what matters.
There are few related themes in the book, but perhaps the central theme is that the world becoming more modern does not imply the world becoming more similar. The core characteristics of modernity express themselves differently in different states and are very much shaped by local culture, traditions, and philosophy. And the same logic applies to values as well – despite the spread of technology and modernity we should not expect various cultural values to converge.
Al Qaeda is one of the few movements he looks at and shows how it supports his thesis. He does a quick analysis of Al Qaeda's history and operations, and shows that ironically, despite espousing the return to traditional values, Al Qaeda in its essence is modern. As such, and as John gray puts it, radical Islam is a symptom of a disease that it itself claims to be the cure.
Inversely, Gray also makes an argument that the West has fundamentalist tendencies, despite claiming modernity. The fact that the two are involved in a conflict makes irony particularly twisted, and even if the reader disagrees with line of reasoning one must admit it is quite clever. Read it and decide for yourself.
And of course both radical Islam and in the West try to transform the world in their own image and as such are utopian. Which brings us right back to the main thesis of the book.
There are a few other interesting tidbits thrown all around the book: role of positivists, the original modernizes; short history of free-market; reversion of 20th century ideological conflicts back to the Malthusian confrontations – Rwanda, Middle East; metamorphosis of Clausewitz style wars among the states into less circumscribed conflicts of “all against all”. Yes some arguments don't quite drive the point home and some ideas are a little specious, but overall it is an intellectually stimulating read and in the end that is what matters.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 46 reviews