Islamism: A New Totalitarianism

Front Cover
Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2017 - History - 345 pages
What exactly is Islamism? And what explains its violent expansion in recent decades? Why are Islamists so determined to change the world order? Are there similarities between Islamism and classical totalitarian regimes and ideologies? Will it fail, as those regimes did in Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union--or can it adapt effectively to changing realities? What are the fundamental strengths and weaknesses of the Islamic project?

CONTENTS:
  • Why Is the Study of Islamism Important?
  • Ideological Roots of Islamism.
  • The Rise and Evolution of Islamism in Light of European Totalitarianism.
  • Shia Radicalization.
  • Globalization and the Revival of Islamic Civilization.
  • Islamism and Freedom of Expression.
  • Islamism and the Problematic of "Amity" and "Enmity."
  • Islamism and World Order.
  • Islamism: A New Totalitarianism.

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About the author (2017)

Mehdi Mozaffari was an anti-shah activist, but equally against Iran's 1979 Islamist revolution-which led to his escape "from the revolution... leaving behind my country, my birthplace, my belongings, my career at Tehran University, my friends, my family." His subsequent academic career has been motivated in no small part, as he writes, by "the thirst to understand this phenomenon that so drastically changed my life, as well as the lives of all Iranians, and even the general situation in the Middle East, with an important impact on world politics." He is now professor emeritus of political science at Aarhus University in Denmark.