The Clash of Fundamentalisms Crusades, Jihads and Modernity

by Ali, Tariq

• ISBN13: 9781859844571
• ISBN10: 185984457X
• Edition: 00
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-04-17
• Publisher: VERSO

Summary

The aerial attacks on the Pentagon and the World Trade Center, a global spectacle of unprecedented dimensions, generated an enormous volume of commentary. The inviolability of the American mainland, breached for the first time since 1812, led to extravagant proclamations by the pundits. It was a new world-historical turning point. The 21st century, once greeted triumphantly as marking the dawn of a worldwide neo-liberal civilization, suddenly became menaced. The choice presented from the White House and its supporters was to stand shoulder-to-shoulder against terrorism or be damned.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' and 'God Bless America.' The visible violence of September 11 was the response to the invisible violence that has been inflicted on countries like Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Palestine and Chechnya. Some of this has been the direct responsibility of the United States and Russia. In this wide-ranging book that provides an explanation for both the rise of Islamic fundamentalism and new forms of Western colonialism, Tariq 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 misguided.

Author Biography

Tariq Ali is a writer and film-maker. He has written over a dozen books on world history and politics, five novels and scripts for both stage and screen. He is an editor of New Left Review and lives in London

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	ix
Introduction to the Paperback Edition	xi
Prologue	1	(12)
Part I Mullahs and Heretics	13	(56)
An atheist childhood	15	(9)
The origins of Islam	24	(7)
The empire of the world	31	(8)
Jerusalem, Jerusalem	39	(5)
Ottomanism	44	(5)
The joys of heresy	49	(11)
Women versus the eternal masculine	60	(9)
Part II One Hundred Years of Servitude	69	(86)
A spring memory	71	(2)
The roots of Wahhabism	73	(6)
The kingdom of corruption	79	(7)
Zionism, the First Oil War, resistance	86	(28)
Marginal notes on the chapter of defeats	114	(12)
The anti-imperialism of fools	126	(15)
An ocean of terror	141	(14)
Part III The Nuclear Wastelands of South Asia	155	(124)
The case of Anwar Shaikh	157	(9)
Plain tales from Pakistan	166	(37)
Afghanistan: between hammer and anvil	203	(14)
The story of Kashmir	217	(36)
The colour khaki	253	(26)
Part IV A Clash of Fundamentalisms	279	(62)
A short-course history of US imperialism	281	(35)
September surprise	316	(13)
Letter to a young Muslim	329	(12)
Part V Epilogue: The Road to Bali	341	(53)
A small town in Java	343	(10)
Islam on the Equator	353	(16)
A tropical gulag	369	(17)
An island made secure	386	(8)
Appendix: On the Israeli--Arab war	394	(19)
Isaac Deutscher
Index	413