Clash of Barbarisms: September 11 and the Making of the New World Disorder

by Gilbert Achcar, Peter F. Drucker (Translator)

The shift in the U.S. global role precipitated by the events of September 11, 2001although the events were unexpectedwas a long time in the making. In this challenging work, Gilbert Achcar analyzes how this shift came about and examines its fateful consequences.
Achcar'sClash of Barbarismstraces the rise of militant and anti-Western Islamic fundamentalism to its roots in U.S. policies aimed at control of the oil reserves of the Middle East, and above all, Saudi Arabiathe "Muslim Texas." Achcar examines the political premises of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda and show how these led to the massive miscalculation of the September 11 attacks, with results both politically counterproductive and morally reprehensible.
The major result of this miscalculation has been to complete a shift from the vision of a world order based on international law and respecting the rights of strong and weak nations alike, announced by George Bush, Sr., in 1991, to the world order being created by the administration of George W. Bush today, in which the United States asserts its own power and pursues its interests without regard for law or rights. In this context, we are living through a "clash of barbarisms" indeed.
This important and timely work is already scheduled for publication in French, English, German, Turkish, and Korean. It draws on first-hand knowledge of the Middle East, but looks beyond immediate events to clarify their geopolitical bases.

Genres: Politics, History, Economics, American, Nonfiction, Middle East

1 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2002

About the author

Gilbert Achcar is a Lebanese academic, writer, and socialist. He is a Professor of Development Studies and International Relations at the School of Oriental and African Studies of the University of London. His research interests cover the Near East and North Africa, the foreign policy of the United States, Globalisation, Islam, and Islamic fundamentalism. He is also a Fellow at the International Institute for Research and Education.

Reviews

[abclaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gilbert Achcar is a radical who seems to have taken up with the legacy of Ernest Mandel. So he's nominally an orthodox marxist. This can be viewed alongside Tariq Ali's The Clash of Fundamentalisms: Crusades, Jihads and Modernity, although this is a damn sight smaller. Alongside his analysis of globalisation and imperialist hegemony leading the worlds chaos he works out a critique of young radical islamists that I thought was quite profound and I haven't read anything to compare to it since.

[Younes Mowafak · Rating 5 out of 5]

كتاب كنت احاول ان اقرأه ببطء لما يحتويه من معلومات دسمة ومكثفة... لا اعرف كيف أشكر الاستاذ جلبير الأشقر على هذا المُنجز العظيم

[Yazan Haddad · Rating 3 out of 5]

يبدو الكتاب كرد عربي على كتاب صدام الحضارات لصامويل هانتنجتون و لكنه للأسف مقتصر على امثلة متعلقة ب ١١ سبتمبر و بالتالي يتخذ الولايات المتحدة كنموذج للدولة التي تقطف ثمار ما زرعت. اعتقد ان اقتباسات الكاتب موفقة لكن استخدام مثال واحد لا يرقى للشمولية في امثلة هنتنجتون الذي غطى الكثير من الصراعات

[Abdelilah Maafi · Rating 2 out of 5]

"صدام الهمجيات" يكشف تواطؤ السياسات الغربية في تغذية الإرهاب، محاججًا بأن العنف المتبادل ليس صراع حضارات، بل نتيجة لسياسات إمبريالية وهمجية مضادة.

[SADIK BAYDERE · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bilhassa soğuk savaşın bitimi sonrası kendisini dünyanın jandarması gören kibirli, Hobbes'çu Leviathan ABD'nin, dünyada terörü yoketmek ve demokrasi getirmek masalı adına ortaya koyduğu barbarlığının doğurduğu karşı-barbarlığın kendisine karşı öfkesini 11 Eylül ve benzeri eylemlerle kustuğunu, bunun dünyaya barış ve demokrasi getirmenin tam aksi sonuçlar doğuracağını haklı olarak iddia ediyor Gilbert Achcar. Ve şöyle bitiriyor kitabını, Truva Şavaşındaki Akhilleus (Aşil) mitine atıf yaparak:

"Rus düşmanı Hektor'u yenen ABD'li Akhilleus, düşmanını küçük düşürmekten vazgeçmedi. Çok daha az önem taşıyan bir diğer düşman (Paris) ise onu en zayıf noktasından, ağır bir şekilde vurdu. Kendi ölçüsüz kibriyle gözü kamaşan Akhilleus kendisine karşı gelen herkese karşı saldırıya geçti, topuğunu ise askeri botlar giyerek koruyabileceğini düşündü. İçindeki 'hubris', kaçınılmaz olarak, tanrıların intikam tanrıçası Nemesis'in öfkesini tetikliyor ve tetiklemeye devam edecek"...

[James Igoe · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had the opportunity to listen to Achcar lecture at La Maison Francaise at NYU, and found his view intriguing, if not entirely acceptable, and certainly worthy of inclusion into a broader worldview. His English is faltering, but the translation is excellent and the book is well structured. Also, the book is about 100 pages long, and I found it an easy read, although not simply written. Reading the book would not take a great amount of time, and it provides a wealth of solid, but little known, historical and political information.

The largest takeaway from his analysis is a more balanced approach to international interactions, and a detailed analysis of the history of the Middle East and Islam, as it relates to political struggles. His analysis is akin to Chomsky's understanding of American political strategy, but also dovetails contrapuntally with more mainstream writers such as Brzezniski.

[sologdin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fairly plainly a reply to Huntington's 'clash of civilizations' argument that was made popular during the invasion of Afghanistan, taking a slightly different approach than Tariq Ali's Clash of Fundamentalisms.

Effective, generally, in drawing out the dialectical arguments necessitated by the acceptance of Huntington's basic thesis. One might accordingly accept this argument to the same extent that one accepts Huntington.

Author otherwise has good politics, and he's not wrong in his basis analysis of the Bush regime or US policy.

[Omar El shafei · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent analysis of the background to 9/11. The oil question and the strategic US-Saudi alliance are dealt with so deeply. A concise analysis written with erudition and sense of humor despite the tragic things it covers. A source of hope.

[Al Matthews · Rating 4 out of 5]

Analysis. Worthwhile. Cards: held. See also Retort.