islam and politics

Presents an overview of the Taliban movement in Afghanistan up to the year 2000, discussing its origins and beliefs, religious and political ethos, and involvement with the U.S., Saudi Arabia, and Osama bin Laden.

Examines the history of the Islamic world, focusing on the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, and discusses the reasons for the violent growth in Muslim hostility toward the West.

An account of the fundamentalist religious revolution in the Middle East since the overthrow of the Shah.

Presents an overview of the Taliban, describing its structure, policies, and relations with the international community, and also discusses Afghanistan's Islamic tradition.

A veteran reporter chronicles the struggle between moderates and extremists taking place within the Islamic world, citing clerics who challenge al Qaeda violence, women who are launching liberation movements, and former jihadists who openly reject violence.

Provides an account of the history, structure, and objectives of Hamas, the militant Islamic group elected to power in the Middle East in 2006 despite being considered by the U.S., Israel, and the European Union as a terrorist organization, and considers the possibility of a long-term truce with Israel.

Writing a few months prior to her assassination, Bhutto explores the complicated history between the Middle East and the West. She traces the roots of international terrorism across the world, including American support for Pakistani general Zia-ul-Haq, who destroyed political parties, eliminated an independent judiciary, marginalized NGOs, suspended the protection of human rights, and aligned Pakistani intelligence agencies with the most radical elements of the Afghan mujahideen. She speaks out not just to the West, but to the Muslims across the globe who are at a crossroads between the past and the future, between education and ignorance, between peace and terrorism, and between dictatorship and democracy. Democracy and Islam are not incompatible, and the clash between Islam and the West is not inevitable.--From publisher description.

Tells the story of how al-Qaida was able to establish terrorist cells in cities throughout Europe as bases from which to plan strikes against the U.S., arguing that the followers of Osama bin Laden used the Bosnian war of the 1990s as a cover for their operations.