Why They Don't Hate Us: Lifting the Veil on the Axis of Evil

Is the Muslim world really a seething mass of anti-Western hatred, or is the true situation more complicated than that? In this important and ambitious new work, Mark Levine presents a vivid and compelling picture of the human face behind the veil of the ‘Axis of Evil’ and sets out an alternative roadmap for better relations between the West and the Muslim world. Going beyond the stereotypes and below the media radar, this book explains why, contrary to the popular perception, ‘they’ don’t hate ‘us’ – or at least, not yet.

Table of Contents:
List of Illustrations ix Preface xi Introduction: They Are Us 1 PART 1 WHO ARE THEY, WHERE’D THEY COME FROM, AND WHY THEY DON’T HATE US – YET? 15 1 From Evil to Empathy: The Orient Beats Back the Axis of Arrogance 2 Overcoming the Matrix, Re-Imagining Middle Eastern History PART 2 BRANDING ISLAM IN THE GLOBAL ERA 81 3 Grounding the Globalization Concorde 83 4 New Logo: Rebranding the Middle East in the Global Era 5 Beyond Bin Ladin: Human Nationalisms versus Inhuman Globalization 6 Facing the Music: Rock and Resistance in the Middle East PART 3 WE’RE JAMMIN’: GLOBAL SOLIDARITY IN THE POST-9/11 WORLD 211 7 Paris ’68—Baghdad ’04: The Evolution of a Movement of Movements 8 Inspiring the Impossible: The Global Peace and Justice Movement Between Old Problems and New Horizons 241 9 Conclusion: Chaos and Culture Jamming in the "New Middle East" 273 Notes 341 Bibliography 421 Index 431

About the Author :
Mark LeVine, of the University of California, Irvine, is a leading figure among the new generation of analysts of the modern Middle East and Islam, and a musician who has performed with artists like Mick Jagger. For the last six years he has lived and worked in the Middle East, dodging terrorist bombs, standing against bulldozers and sharing the lives of the people who form the subject of his work. Historical consultant for the Oscar-nominated and double Emmy award-winning Promises documentary, he has made numerous television and radio appearances and his work has been extensively quoted in leading newspapers such as the New York Times and the Washington Post.

Review :
"LeVine is absolutely right and, indeed, quite brave to insist on the reality of complexity. Terrorism and war both tend to simplify world views and, without doubting their intellectual status, so do the utopians of the new right." The Sunday Times "Such a wealth of statistical detail that even the most gung-ho advocate of IMF and World Bank programmes must pause for thought." The Economist "LeVine's innovation lies in his belief that multicultural combinations of scholars, activists, and artists can produce and articulate community-based radical politics that will have mass appeal and thus impact politics." Tikkun "By insisting on the reality of complexity, LeVine powerfully shows the fallacies of dominant rhetoric and conceptions about Muslim societies." ISIM Review "Mark LeVine offers a vibrant critique of the 'clash of civilisations' theory." about.com "LeVine is absolutely right and, indeed, quite brave to insist on the reality of complexity. Terrorism and war both tend to simplify world views and, without doubting their intellectual status, so do the utopians of the new right." The Sunday Times "Such a wealth of statistical detail that even the most gung-ho advocate of IMF and World Bank programmes must pause for thought." The Economist LeVine's innovation lies in his belief that multicultural combinations of scholars, activists, and artists can produce and articulate community-based radical politics that will have mass appeal and thus impact politics." Tikkun "LeVine provides a compelling argument that it is not the "Axis of Evil" nations that have poisoned peace and understanding between the West and the Muslim world." daily star "His analysis of the war in Iraq is a must read." International Journal of Middle East Studies