On the 40th anniversary of the revolution that established the Shia theocracy that now rules Iran, Emmanuel Karagiannis's new book makes a timely and important contribution to a range of scholarly literatures. Its overarching goal is to trace and analyse the Islamic world's interactions with the processes of globalisation that have continued to gather pace over this period. Focusing on the present-day and the recent past, its primary conclusions are that these exchanges have not only helped give birth to ‘a new political Islam’ (2) but have also left Islamists ‘more divided and polarized’ (8) than ever before. The majority of the book is then dedicated to substantiating this thesis by analysing globalisation's effects on the Muslim world and Islamists in particular, through the themes of human rights, democracy and justice.
In pursuit of this goal, the volume is divided into three parts of two chapters each. Part one examines the ways in which European Muslim converts and the Palestinian organisation, Hizb ut-Tahrir al-Islami, have drawn upon and adapted international notions of human rights to promote Islamist agendas in Western countries. Part two looks first at the success of moderate Islamist parties to win power by democratic means in Turkey, Egypt and Tunisia before then analysing the attempts of more conservative non-violent organisations to influence the political agendas in Egypt and Tunisia. And part three explores the concepts of justice both embraced and advocated by militant Shia and Sunni factions in Lebanon, Iraq and Syria. In this way, the book is able to develop and advance its thesis, and cast important new light on recent events in several Middle Eastern and North African countries.
The New Political Islam is a unique and important book in several ways. First, in the scope of its enquiry. Political Islam has been a topic of sustained scholarly interest in the West for at least 40 years. The Iranian Revolution, the Soviet Union's decade-long struggle against the Afghan mujahideen, the assassination of Anwar Sadat, and the brutal civil wars in Lebanon and Algeria all helped draw international attention to the motivational capacity and revolutionary potential of groups and networks espousing religious ideologies. And this interest has only increased over the last 20 years following Al Qaeda's attacks on the World Trade Centre and Pentagon, the United States’ invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, the Arab Spring, and the subsequent rise and fall of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, and ISIS in Syria, Iraq and Libya.
Yet paradoxically, this growth in interest has been accompanied by a narrowing in focus. Much of the recent literature on political Islam looks at either security – the dangers to peoples and governments posed by terrorist groups and insurgent forces – or the attempts by civil society groups – religious parties and charities – to influence and shape public life. As a result, these studies tend to focus on either particular countries or specific groups. The New Political Islam, however, takes a broader thematic approach. Its focus is not restricted solely to matters of security but encompasses other aspects of political Islam in a range of different countries.
In undertaking this enquiry, The New Political Islam also adds contemporary nuance to Olivier Roy's landmark study into globalised Islam. More specifically, it questions the extent to which improvements in communication are leading both to the homogenisation of opinion across the Muslim world and to greater cooperation between Islamist groups and organisations. Indeed, as the fierce rivalry between ‘the Justice and Development Party … and the Gülen movement in Turkey, and al-Qaeda and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) indicate’ political Islam is more divided than ever before with ‘localized entities … struggl[ing] for political and ideological supremacy’ (9). Despite being better informed about what is happening elsewhere in the Muslim world and their pursuit of similar goals by comparable methods, political Islam is far from unified. Local differences and objectives matter, and shape and colour the articulation of global trends and developments throughout the Muslim world.
In making these contributions, The New Political Islam will appeal to established scholars, and postgraduate and advanced undergraduate students working in a number of fields. To those interested in political Islam, it provides a thoughtful interrogation of the effects of globalisation on the Muslim world and helps explain some of the current divisions between Islamists. To those interested in the modern Middle East and North Africa, it casts new light on the critical roles played by Islamist groups in a number of countries including those most affected by the recent Arab Spring. And to those International Relations scholars working in the more critical fields, such as postcolonialism it provides insights into the Middle East and North Africa's interaction with global trends, into the agency of key actors in this important part of the non-Western world.
