Militant Islamists: Terrorists without Frontiers

(Hardback)

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

In this book, Alaolmolki, an expert on the transnational politics of Central Asia and the Persian Gulf, provides a global view of militant Islamist ideologies, activities, and connections. Unlike many extant books on this topic, Militant Islamists does not examine only one particular factor or driving force in political violence such as suicide bombings; rather, this work studies transnational militant Islam on several levels: domestic (e.g., the role of poverty and lack of democracy in Arab and Muslim nations); regional (e.g., the Palestinian-Israeli conflict; Hizbullah in Lebanon; Jemmah Islamiyan in Southeast Asia; Hizb al-Tahrir in Central Asia); global (e.g., the role of the United States and Western Europe in inadvertently helping transnational Islamists). Ultimately, the author traces the effects of the U.S.-led invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq on militant Islamist terrorism, concluding that militant Islam is spreading, not receding, and that the United States would better rely on soft, rather than hard (military), power to overcome it.

Reviews

Alaolmolki (political science, Hiram College, Ohio) analyzes transnational militant Islam at domestic, regional and global levels, noting that the driving force in political violence cannot be isolated to a single source or ideology. Written for students and scholars interested in Islamic extremism, this volume examines the causes for the expansion of these movements such as the predominance of poverty and lack of democracy in Arab and Muslim nations, historic conflicts in the Middle East and Asia and interventions from the Western world. The author also discusses the shift in Islamic beliefs since 9/11, the consequences of the Iraqi invasion and the need for non-military solutions for extremist activity. * Reference & Research Book News *
This is a good introduction to a very complex subject, and unlike many other books on militant Islam, it includes a wide geographical focus and examines movements that are difficult to classify in traditional political science categories (e.g., al Qaeda) as well as others that have evolved into political parties in their respective locales (e.g., Hamas and Hezbollah). The book takes the reader across Europe, Caucasus, Central Asia, and the Middle East to examine most Islamist terrorist and radical groups. Moreover, Alaolmolki (Hiram College) provides sufficient historical background and discussion of contemporary developments to enable readers to understand current militant tendencies in the Muslim world. . . . Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above. * Choice *

Author Bio

Nozar Alaolmolki is Chair of the Political Science Department at Hiram (Ohio) College. He has been a Fulbright in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan and has published a number of books, including Life After the Soviet Union: The Newly Independent Republics of Transcaucasus and Central Asia, The Persian Gulf Region in the 21st Century: Stability and Change, and Struggle for Dominance in the Persian Gulf: Past, Present and Future Prospects. He is a native of Iran.