The Clash of Fundamentalisms: Crusades, Jihads and ModernityVerso, 2002 - 342 من الصفحات The inviolability of the American mainland, breached on 9/11/2001 for the first time since 1812, led to extravagant proclamations by the pundits. It was a sudden menace confronting the twenty-first century, an event of unprecedented dimensions, a new world-historical turning point. Tariq Ali challenges these assumptions, arguing instead that what we have experienced is the return of History in a horrific form, with religious symbols playing a part on both sides: ‘Allah’s revenge’, ‘God is on Our side’, ‘God Bless America’. The ‘war against terror’ is a clash of fundamentalisms, religious versus imperial. Each is honored by time-honored features – a shameless use of disproportional military power by one and a carefully targeted fanaticism by its Other. The two forces are hardly equal. One is a product of despair, the other is an empire, whose ability to go to war is a chilling reminder of its place in the world. Contemporary politics is conducted and presented in the elitist style of intelligence agencies: disinformation, false information, exaggeration of enemy strength and capability, explanation of a TV image with a brazen lie and censorship. The aim is to delude and disarm the citizenry. Everything is either over-simplified or reduced to a wearisome incomprehensibility. This wide-ranging book blends history, literature, politics and autobiography to challenge the conformist culture of our times. Ali argues that many of the values proclaimed by the Enlightenment retain their relevance, while portrayals of the American Empire as a new emancipatory project are fatally misguided. |
المحتوى
Prologue | 1 |
Mullahs and Heretics | 13 |
An atheist childhood | 15 |
The origins of Islam | 24 |
The empire of the world | 31 |
Jerusalem Jerusalem | 39 |
Ottomanism | 44 |
The joys of heresy | 49 |
The antiimperialism of fools | 126 |
An ocean of terror | 141 |
The Nuclear Wastelands of South Asia | 155 |
The case of Anwar Shaikh | 157 |
Plain tales from Pakistan | 166 |
Afghanistan between hammer and anvil | 203 |
The story of Kashmir | 217 |
A Clash of Fundamentalisms | 253 |
Women versus the eternal masculinity | 60 |
One Hundred Years of Servitude | 69 |
A spring memory | 71 |
The roots of Wahhabism | 73 |
The kingdom of corruption | 79 |
Zionism the First Oil War resistance | 86 |
Marginal notes on the chapter of defeats | 114 |
A shortcourse history of US imperialism | 255 |
September surprise | 290 |
Letter to a young Muslim | 303 |
On the IsraeliArab war | 314 |
333 | |
طبعات أخرى - عرض جميع المقتطفات
عبارات ومصطلحات مألوفة
11 September Afghan Afghanistan Allah American Anwar Arab world armed army Baghdad became began believe Bhutto Britain British caliph century Christian civilisation clerics communists created culture death defeat democracy Deobandi East Pakistan economic Egypt Egyptian elected emir empire enemy Europe favour fear forces fundamentalists groups Hindu imperialism India Iran Iranian Iraq Islam Islamists Israel Israeli Jewish jihad Jinnah Kabul Kashmir Khan killed Koran Lahore land later leaders liberal live Maududi military mosque Mughal Muhammad mullahs Muslim Brotherhood Muslim League Nasser nationalist Nawaz Sharif Nehru never officer organisation Osama Osama bin Laden Ottoman Pakistan Palestine Palestinian party Pashtun peasants political politicians population prime minister Prophet Punjab refused regime region religion religious rulers Saddam Saudi Arabia secular shah Shaikh Sharif Shia Sikhs social Soviet Union Srinagar Sultan Syria Taliban United victory Wahhabi Washington West Western women Zionist