The Islamic Threat : Myth or Reality? (Second Edition) (Paperback)

by John L. Esposito (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

*Praise for the first edition:
"A useful antidote to the barrage of exaggerated views on Islam."--The New York Times
"One of America's foremost authorities and interpreters of Islam...offers an informed and reasoned discussion of Islam in politics."--The Wall Street Journal


Product Description
Are Islam and the West on an inevitable collision course? What are the implications of events in Algeria, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and the West? Recent events such as the World Trade Center bombing, Algeria's civil war and the fundamentalist Islamic government that might follow, Sunni-Shii fratricide in Pakistan, and reports of terrorist networks with bases in the West only enhance the Western view of Muslims as medieval fanatics, and feed talk of an impending clash of civilizations. From the Ayatollah Khomeini to Saddam Hussein and Sheik Abdul Rahman, the image of Islam as a militant, expansionist, and rabidly anti-American religion has gripped the minds of Western governments and media. But these perceptions, John L. Esposito writes, stem from a long history of mutual distrust, criticism, and condemnation, and they are far too simplistic to help us understand one of the most important issues of our times.
In this second edition of The Islamic Threat: Myth or Reality? Esposito, a leading expert in political Islam, analyzes the fall out from these recent events from North Africa to Southeast Asia and places the challenge of Islam in critical perspective. Exploring the vitality of Islam as a global force and the history of its relations with the western world, Esposito investigates just how pervasive the threat of Muslim radicalism actually is. He offers a systematic assessment of politics in key nations (including Algeria, Egypt, Iran, Pakistan, Libya, Lebanon, Sudan, and Tunisia) and in particular Islamic movements (from moderates to radicals), demonstrating the diversity of the Islamic resurgence--and the mistakes western analysts make in assuming a hostile, monolithic Islam. Esposito examines the potential challenge or threat of Islam and looks at the issues facing Islam and the West in the 1990s, from democratization and pluralism to American foreign policy, human rights, and the status of women and minorities in the context of Islamic revivalism.
Timely and compelling, The Islamic Threat is essential reading for all those interested in "overcoming the increasingly dangerous gap separating Western and Islamic societies."

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Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; 2 edition (January 4, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195102983
• ISBN-13: 978-0195102987
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,703,763 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

40 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Esposito: A Bridge between Two Communities, December 26, 1999

By	C. King Khidr (Damascus, Syria) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Islamic Threat : Myth or Reality? (Third Edition) (Paperback)

Esposito is writing as a secular liberal with a sympathetic desire to eradicate the dominant Western fear that Islam stands as a tyrannical military threat to Europe and North America. Such a stance doesn't mean that he turns a blind eye to the militant and radically hostile anti-Western war-cries emanating from various corners of the Muslim world. On the contrary, he attempts to relegate such voices into their proper place -- which is that of a very small minority -- unlike the many Western political theorists who take such voices to be indicative of Islam itself. In doing so he argues that the vast majority of Muslims don't represent a black plague and that Islam isn't inherently hostile, despite the sophistry of the unemployed cold-warriors who feel forced to, as he puts it, "fill the threat-vacuum created from the demise of communism." After all, why has Islam suddenly become the new enemy? Were Muslims non-existent during the communist era? Esposito effectively highlights the various motives underlying attempts to vilify Islam, fixating such attempts against the contextual backdrop of the recent collapse of communism.

This is not to belittle the fact that Muslims, generally do stand opposed to most secular Western principles and values. But to stand in opposition to someone's values is one thing, to desire a Nazi-style elimination of him is another. This is the problem with the McCarthyistic demonization of Islam, a paranoic fear fueled by the false presumption that Islam's inherent anti-modernistic tendencies imply that the religion and its adherents are obsessed with a holocaustic elemination of all Westerners. The protagonists of such a view take their que from contemporary Islamic millitants, failing to see that such terrorists, (albeit the anti-Islamic nature of their deeds), are generally REACTING to Western POLITICAL interventions upon Muslim self-determination -- interventions that are often themselves instigated by misguided political theorists (who perhaps desire continued funding for thier think-tanks). This creates a viscious cycle of negative-feedback, like an amplifier that picks up and magnifies its own sound: intervention creates resentment which leads some to militant reaction which instigates more intervention; and so the pattern continues culminating in the likes of Laden. What Esposito seeks to do is pull the plug out of the amplifier. A sympathic course safeguards him from fanning the flames, which is why he is endeared by a large Muslim audience and even gets invited to speak at Muslim conferences. Few other non-Muslims have contributed to such an irenic enterprise as he has. For this he stands as a bridge between two communities.

THE ISLAMIC THREAT is a must read for anyone interested in the complex and multi-faceted dynamic that govern contemporary Western-Islamic relations.

50 of 62 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Balanced and Objective, September 8, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: The Islamic Threat : Myth or Reality? (Third Edition) (Paperback)

I can't believe that many of those reviewing this book actually read it. For one thing, they miss the whole point of this book, which is this: though of course there are wackos out there like bin Laden, Islam does not sanction them. The attack on the Twin Towers was not "Islamic," as people persist in believing, any more than McVeigh's attack in Oklahoma City was Christian, even though McVeigh acted in the name of the Christian Identity Christian fundamentalist group and was raised a Catholic.

The author is trying to put things in perspective -- we do not view people who base their violent actions on the Bible (like the Ku Klux Klan) as representative of Christianity, so why do we view terrorists who base their violent actions on the Qur'an as representative of Islam?

For people who wish to stay secure in their stereotypes of Islam, this book will not be useful. But Esposito, a Catholic and a professor of Islamic Studies at Georgetown, has no pro-Islamic agenda. It's his academic field. And he tries to put the record straight and explain the Islamic world in this book.

(Simply the fact that Saudi Arabia is described by some reviewers as a "moderate" Islamic state when its version of Islam is actually an extremist fundamentalist one clearly shows the total lack of understanding that most people have of the Islamic world.)

Do yourself a favor and get this book. It tries to clarify the media stereotypes, tries to foster understanding, is not pro-Islam (it's actually more critical of Islam than Muslims might wish), and is extremely balanced and objective. It presents a bigger picture, and if you truly want to educate yourself about the world with respect to Islam, then this is a great book.

28 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A very correct account, April 16, 1999

By A Customer

I have travelled the countries of east with overwhelming muslim population and also have a good understanding of Islamic teachings. I believe Dr. Esposito has done a wonderful job at analysing the problem of muslim uprising and I believe his knowledge is also based on his first hand experience with muslim leaders. He has painted an accurate picture of the diversity of muslim uprisings and its equally varied reasons (which I acknowledge from my experience of the muslim world). This book is in stark contrast to the fast-food styled research that most authors do by basing their work on a few CNN reports and historically polemical rumors. It is truly a book worth its money. A must read for the muslim and non-muslim alike.