Introduction, Chapter 1: Identifying the enemy after the death of Bin Laden, The West, Islam, and the Counter-Ideological War - Patrick Sookhdeo, Islam and Totalitarianism: The Challenge of Comparison - Stephen Ulph, Chapter 2: Learning from the Past, Ideology and Central Planning: Lessons from the Cold War - John Moore, Political-Ideological Warfare in Integrated Strategy, and its Basis in an Assessment of Soviet Reality - John Lenczowski, Public Diplomacy in an Age of Global Terrorism: Lessons from the Past - Robert Reilly, Chapter 3: Winning the Ideological War, The Jihadist States - Thomas Joscelyn, The Enemy Threat of Al Qaeda: Taking the War to the Heart of our Foe - Sebastian Gorka; End notes, About the authors, About The Westminster Institute
Dr Patrick Sookhdeo is Director of the Institute for the Study of Islam and Christianity, International Director of Barnabas Fund and Executive Director of the Oxford Centre for Religion and Public Life. He has been Visiting Professor at a number of military academic centres. He is a Research Associate at the Faculty of Theology and Religion, University of Pretoria. He is Cor Episcopos of the Syriac Orthodox Church. He is author/editor of 36 books. Katharine Cornell Gorka is the Executive Director of The Westminster Institute, a non-governmental think-tank which is based in McLean, Virginia.
This just released work is an important and timely contribution to
current thinking regarding the modern resurgence of Islamism. More
precisely, in the relatively short span of 240 pages, the book
offers an intriguing perspective on how the Western democracies can
develop a comprehensive methodology to combat Islamic expansionism
in all of its forms, both violent as well as nominally peaceful
[which relies heavily on da'wa, Muslim proselytization].
Demonstrative of the anthology's currency, it is reflective of a
post bin-Laden world. While the subject matter will necessarily be
of most interest to those already working within the field [or
students thereof], it might well have broader appeal to those
interested generally in national security matters, comparative
political theory, ideological trends and taking the offensive in a
multi-front asymmetrical war. Though there is a fairly large
preexisting knowledge base in these combined areas of study much of
the subject material is by nature, dense and therefore primarily of
interest to academicians. Fighting the Ideological War is the type
of work that would be appropriate as a basis for further
exploration in the field, though it certainly stands as a powerful
achievement in its own right.
The book is organized around seven essays, grouped under three
subheadings, Identifying the Enemy After the Death of Bin-Laden,
Learning from the Past and Winning the Ideological War, which
logically connect the major points:
Defining the enemy's nature.
Identifying successful historical examples of dealing with such
challenges.
Developing an overall enemy threat doctrine and presenting a
template for winning the war of ideas.
It follows then that in order to triumph within such a paradigm,
both aspects of Islamism must be defeated, with Fighting the
Ideological War offering a reasonable winning strategic vision
based upon historical fact, rather than the current policy which
heavily relies upon gestures rooted in appeasement and willful
ignorance.
*WILLIAM MAYER*
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