War without End: The Rise of Islamist Terrorism and Global Response

'The first war of the twenty-first century.' That is how President George W. Bush described the start of the war against terror signaled by the catastrophic terrorist attacks on New York and Washington DC on September 11th 2001. In reality, though, the war against terror began during the Presidency of Bill Clinton in August 1998 when the US responded to the Islamist terrorists' bombing of American Embassies in Nairobi and Dar as Salaam. This book provides the historical and political context to explain these acts of terror and the West's response. After providing a brief history of Islam as a religion and as socio-political ideology, Dilip Hiro outlines the Islamist movements that have thrived in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan, and their changing relationship with America. It is within this framework that he describes the rising menace of Osama bin Laden and his Al Qaida network. Hiro examines the Pentagon's amazingly swift victory over the Taliban in Afghanistan. He then discusses the implications of the Bush Doctrine, encapsulated in his declaration, 'so long as anybody is terrorizing established governments, there needs to be a war' - a recipe for war without en

Table of Contents:
Part 1: Islam 1. The Rise of Islam: Sunnis and Shias 2. Orthodox Islam and Sufism 3. Islam in Modern Times Part 2: Islamic Ideologies and Fundamentalist States 4. Egypt: The Muslim Brotherhood and its offshoots 5. Saudi Arabia: The Oldest Fundamentalist State 6. Afghanistan: Fundamentalism Victorious with American Backing Part 3: Islamist Terrorism and Global Response 9. Ongoing War Against Terror: An Uncharted Territory 10. Summary and Conclusions

Review :
'The strength of Hiro's book lies in his providing a clear context for events, thus illustrating the extent and depth of the crisis that now exists between the Islamists led, inspired or influenced by bin Laden and the Western nations now at war with him.' - Mark Huband, The Financial Times 'This is an immensely useful compendium of the background to the new world that we face ... it should become compulsory reading, not so much for the diplomatic professionals, but for their political masters.' - Middle East International 'Hiro uses simple argument and backs it with a mathematician's logic.' - Ziya Us Salam, The Hindu 'The strength of Hiro's book lies in his providing a clear context for events, thus illustrating the extent and depth of the crisis that now exists between the Islamists led, inspired or influenced by bin Laden and the Western nations now at war with him.' - The Financial Times 'This is an immensely useful compendium of the background to the new world that we face ... it should become compulsory reading, not so much for the diplomatic professionals, but for their political masters.' - Middle East International 'Hiro uses simple argument and backs it with a mathematician's logic.' - The Hindu