Far enemy why jihad went global

Fawaz A. Gerges0521791405, 9780521791403, 9780511161414

Since September 11, Al Qaeda has been portrayed as an Islamist front united in armed struggle, or jihad, against the Christian West. However, as the historian and commentator Fawaz A. Gerges argues, the reality is rather different. In fact, Al Qaeda represents a minority within the jihadist movement, and its strategies have been criticized and opposed by religious nationalists among the jihadis, who prefer to concentrate on changing the Muslim world rather than taking the fight global. Based on primary field research, the author unravels the story of the jihadist movement and explores its philosophies, its structure, the rifts and tensions that split its ranks, and why some members, like Osama bin Laden and his deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri, favored international over local strategies in taking the war to the West. Gerges asks where the jihadist movement is going, and whether it can be transformed into a non-violent, socio-political force.

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Table of contents :
Half-title……Page 3
Title……Page 5
Copyright……Page 6
Dedication……Page 7
Contents……Page 9
Acknowledgments……Page 11
Prologue……Page 15
The New Definition of Jihad……Page 17
Jihad as a Permanent Revolution……Page 18
Jihad Against the Near Enemy……Page 23
Jihad Against the Far Enemy?……Page 26
The Semiofficial Narrative of September 11……Page 30
The War Within the Jihadist Movement……Page 38
Splitting Up of Jihadis: Religious Nationalists
versus Transnationalists……Page 43
The Primacy of Charismatic Personalities……Page 48
Jihad Goes Local……Page 57
Early Warnings of Transnational Jihad……Page 66
Why Did Jihad Go Global?……Page 70
Muslim Rulers Flirt with Jihad……Page 81
America Flirts with Political Islam……Page 84
Jihadis’ Revisionist History……Page 88
The Afghan Jihad as Defensive War……Page 94
The Law of Unintended Consequences:
Nourishing Transnational Jihad……Page 98
The Case of Zawahiri: The Transformation
of a Religious Nationalist……Page 101
The Young Revolutionary……Page 103
The Rivalry Among Jihadis……Page 113
3 The Rise of Transnationalist Jihadis and the Far Enemy……Page 133
The Struggle Over the Leadership of the Afghan Arabs……Page 139
Egyptians’ Hegemony Over Bin Laden?……Page 152
The Catalyst: America Enters Saudi Arabia……Page 157
Religious Nationalists Lay Down Their Arms……Page 165
Jihadis’ Civil War……Page 172
America Joins the Fray……Page 179
The Merger: A Way Out of the Bottleneck……Page 184
Why We Underestimated Al Qaeda……Page 191
5 The Aftermath: The War Within……Page 199
Jihadis’ Responses……Page 200
Fault Lines Within Al Qaeda……Page 206
Al-Jama’a Al-Islamiya’s Critique of Al Qaeda……Page 214
How Important Is Al-Jama’a’s Critique?……Page 224
Critiquing Al-Jama’a’s Critique……Page 228
Leading Former Jihadis Join the Onslaught Against Al Qaeda……Page 232
Al Qaeda’s Counteroffensive……Page 242
Conservative Islamists and Ulema Against Al Qaeda……Page 248
Articulating a Response: The Modernist Islamist
and Intellectual Elite……Page 254
Mastering the Art of Making Enemies……Page 260
6 The Iraq War: Planting the Seeds of Al Qaeda’s
Second Generation?……Page 265
Final Thoughts……Page 283
Organizations Cited……Page 291
People Cited……Page 295
prologue……Page 301
introduction: the road to september 11 and after……Page 305
1. religious nationalists and the near enemy……Page 308
2. the afghan war: sowing the seeds of transnational jihad……Page 315
3. the rise of transnationalist jihadis and the far enemy……Page 320
4. splitting up of jihadis……Page 325
5. the aftermath: the war within……Page 328
6. the iraq war: planting the seeds of al qaeda’s second generation?……Page 336
Glossary……Page 343
Index……Page 347