The far enemy : why Jihad went global / Fawaz A. Gerges.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Gerges, Fawaz A., 1958- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Jihad.

War--Religious aspects--Islam.

War.

Islam and world politics.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xii, 345 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2005.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Since September 11, Al Qaeda has been portrayed as an Islamist front united in armed struggle, or jihad, against the Christian West. However, as the historian and commentator Fawaz A. Gerges argues, the reality is rather different. In fact, Al Qaeda represents a minority within the jihadist movement, and its strategies have been criticized and opposed by religious nationalists among the jihadis, who prefer to concentrate on changing the Muslim world rather than taking the fight global. Based on primary field research, the author unravels the story of the jihadist movement and explores its philosophies, its structure, the rifts and tensions that split its ranks, and why some members, like Osama bin Laden and his deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri, favored international over local strategies in taking the war to the West. Gerges asks where the jihadist movement is going, and whether it can be transformed into a non-violent, socio-political force.

Contents:

Religious nationalists and the near enemy

The Afghan war : sowing the seeds of transnational Jihad

The rise of transnationalist Jihadis and the far enemy

Splitting up of Jihadis

The aftermath : the war within

The Iraq war : planting the seeds of Al Qaeda's second generation?

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).

Includes bibliographical references (p. 287-328) and index.

ISBN:

1-107-14349-7

1-280-48025-4

9786610480258

0-511-22087-1

0-511-16141-7

0-511-16013-5

0-511-51204-X

0-511-30043-3

0-511-16070-4

OCLC:

647514748