Taj Hashmi*

Clarksville, September 23, 2014 (Alochonaa): This is an in-depth study of the reasons and consequences of the rise of Islamist militancy and terror in global perspective, with detailed discussions on Islam, Islamism, America’s foreign and domestic policies; and their short- and long-term consequences on global and America’s homeland security. It focuses on the factors behind the rise of al-Qaeda, Taliban, Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Boko Haram, ISIS and various other Islamist terror outfits across the world. It highlights certain global flashpoints and eyes of the storm, and the ramifications of the ongoing “Hundred-Year War” between Muslims and the West, and between various Muslims sects and groups.

This study questions the assumption if Islamist terrorism, or “Global Jihad,” poses the biggest threat to modern civilization in the East and West. It explores if Islamic and Western civilizations, being “incompatible” to each other, are destined to be at loggerheads. Consequently, the book argues that state-sponsored terrorism and proxy wars—not terrorist acts by “non-state actors”—will pose the biggest security threat to the world. While seeking the best way to counter the growing menace of Islamist terror, it takes the problematic well beyond the binary of Islamophobia, on the one hand, and Westophobia on the other. It argues that intra-state and intra-regional sectarian conflicts among Muslims, and conflicts between liberal and extremist Muslims will pose the biggest security challenge in the coming years.

This study does not suggest that the world has already reached the cul-de-sac of its destiny with no point of return. Both America and the Muslim World can play important roles to avert the catastrophe. Meanwhile, the gap between the needy and the rich and powerful is widening. Throughout history, sections of the rich and powerful have manipulated wars in the name of peace and justice, religion and freedom. So the big question now is: with America and its allies waging a “war on terror and extremism” and their Muslim adversaries defending honor and religion, is there a way out of the ongoing conflict? It addresses the problem in historical and contemporary perspectives, with a projection on the nature of the conflict in the ongoing “Hundred-Year War” since the end of World War II.

*Dr. Taj Hashmi is a Professor of Security Studies at Austin Peay State University, Tennessee, USA and the Author of the Book Global Jihad and America: The Hundred-Year War Beyond Iraq and Afghanistan

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