A renowned authority on Islamic movements, Francois Burgat lived for eighteen years in the Arab world, including his time as director of the French Center for Archaeology and Social Sciences at Yemen. He also dedicated many months to fieldwork in North Africa. Bringing Burgat's decades of expertise to the complex dialogues that have marked the post-9/11 world, Islamism in the Shadow of al-Qaeda delivers much-needed clarity and historical perspective.

In Burgat's eyes, most of the West's political and media rhetoric has only fueled al-Qaeda's case, revealing a woeful lack of comprehension regarding the violent authoritarianism that divides the Middle East and creates a breeding ground for terrorism. Islamism in the Shadow of al-Qaeda provides a primer of the three eras of political Islam, from the 1928 founding of the Muslim Brothers to the rise of post-colonial dictatorships and the current radicalization of "Generation al-Qaeda." Offering a new roadmap for stability, Burgat bridges the ideologies-political, religious, and cultural-that must be traversed if the deadly sectarianism is to be superseded.

A provocative re-thinking of the war on terror that exposes the dangers of Western blindness to colonial Middle Eastern history and breaks the deadlock of geopolitics and religious identity

About the Author

Francois Burgat is Director of Research at the National Center for Scientific Research in France and teaches political science at the Institute for Research on the Arab and Muslim World. His many previous books include The Islamic Movement in North Africa, with William Dowell.

Reviews
"Burgat's book delivers the keys to the writings of Azzam, Zawahiri and bin Laden" Le Monde Diplomatique "Unlike his contemporaries, Burgat doesn't give in to the media-talk that surrounds us... With his immense historic and sociological background, he offers us a complete, panoramic view of that Arabic Other... Few know the Arab Muslim world better than Burgat." --Politis



Book Information
ISBN 9780292717602
Author Francois Burgat
Format Paperback
Page Count 198
Imprint University of Texas Press
Publisher University of Texas Press
Weight(grams) 454g