In the wake of the September 11 and subsequent terrorist attacks, the academic and media commentaries on Islam the religion and Islam the basis for political ideology haves received an unprecedented high level of exposure and attention. The acts of political violence by extremist groups and the omnipresent war on terror have added fresh uncertainties to an already complex global order. Just as terrorism and counter-terrorism are locked in a mutually re-enforcing symbiosis, the sense of insecurity felt by Muslims and non-Muslims alike is mutually dependent and has the potential to escalate. This general assessment holds true for Muslims living in the Muslim world and beyond. The pervasive sense of being under attack physically and culturally by the United States and its allies has contributed to a growing unease among Muslims and re-enforced deep-seated mistrust of the 'West'. Public articulation of such misgivings has in turn, lent credence to Western observers who posit an inherent antipathy between the West and the Muslim world. The subsequent policies that have emerged in this context of fear and mutual distrust have contributed to the vicious cycle of insecurity. The present volume is anchored in the current debates on the uneasy and potentially mutually destructive relationship between the Muslim world and certain West countries. It brings together leading international scholars in this interdisciplinary field to deal with such inter-related questions as the nature of Islamism, the impact of the 'war on terror' on the spread of militancy, the growing sense of being under siege by Muslim Diasporas and the many unintended ramifications of a security-minded world order. This volume deliberately focuses on these issues both at a broad theoretical level but more importantly in the form of a number of prominent case studies including Indonesia, Algeria and Turkey
About the Author: Fethi Mansouri is Associate Professor in Middle Eastern Studies at Deakin University's School of International and Political Studies where he teaches history, cultures and ideologies of the contemporary Middle East. His recent publications include Australia and the Middle East: a Front-line Relationship (Tauris Academic Studies, 2006, London/New York) and Lives in Limbo: Refugees under Temporary Protection (with M. Leach: UNSW Press 2004, Sydney, Australia). Shahram Akbarzadeh, is Senior Lecture in Global Politics at Monash University's School of Political and Social Inquiry where he teaches units on Islamic politics. His recent publications include Uzbekistan and the United States: Authoritarianism, Islamism and Washington's Security Agenda (London: Zed books, 2005); Islam and the West (co-edited with S, Yasmeen, Sydney: UNSWPress, 2005) and Islam and Political Legitimacy (co-edited with A. Saeed: London: RoutledgeCurzon Press, 2003).