THE
CONFRONTATION: WINNING
THE WAR AGAINST FUTURE
JIHAD
reviewed by
FARZANA HASSAN
______________________
Walid Phares
contends there
is a future jihad
unfolding in the
form of a
confrontation that
will engulf the
entire world. In his
book entitled
The Confrontation:
Winning the War
against Future Jihad,
(Palgrave McMillan,
2008), he elucidates
the antecedents,
circumstances and
implications of
militant jihad in
the twenty-first
century. This jihad
according to the
author is an
authoritarian,
hegemonic enemy that
must be challenged
at the political,
military, diplomatic
and theological
level.
But Phares begins on
a positive note:
“The free world can
still win” is the
hopeful message the
book embarks on.
He later makes
several telling
observations about
jihad such as the
following: “The
different groups of
jihadists, despite
their inner crisis,
tensions, and
sub-conflicts, focus
on one set of
arguments against
one particular
target, be it
Israel, France,
Southern Sudan or
Kurdistan.” Phares
therefore asserts
the West is the
prime target of
twenty-first jihad.
In order to further
their agenda, the
jihadists
continually engage
in invidious
propaganda and
hatemongering
against the West and
its allies. Coupled
with this strategy,
the jihadists
project themselves
as victims, citing,
according to the
author, a
“socioeconomic
explanation of
terrorism.” This
pernicious
propaganda results
in not recognizing
terrorism and
jihadism as
ideologies.
Terrorism according
to the jihadist is
the weak man’s war,
for he has no other
means to fight for
his rights.
Phares concludes
that it is
Salafist doctrine
and philosophy
rooted in political
Islam that has
gripped the souls of
contemporary
jihadists and their
willing followers in
Muslim youth.
These groups have
the very real and
targeted agenda of
preventing the
spread of Western
democracy and
Western values based
on pluralism,
egalitarianism and
freedom of
conscience in Muslim
lands. Phares claims
the West has been
duped into believing
the jihadists are
“Robin Hoods”
resisting
socioeconomic
oppression.
The author also
concludes that
jihadists continue
to blame the West
for the Crusades,
the Iberian
Reconquista and
generally for all
the ills plaguing
the Muslim world.
But more
importantly, the
jihadists blame the
West for “a war
against Islam” in
its support of
democracies like
Israel.
What then is the
solution to Islamist
resentment and
bellicosity?
The author
appropriately asks:
“Why have Western
and international
policies failed to
contain terrorism
and the jihadi
movement?” He offers
a number of
solutions to tackle
the problem. The
West must at the
outset acknowledge
the threat. Phares
believes there are
many in the West who
fail to understand
the implications of
jihadism and its
lethal corollary --
terror.
Phares also notes
that the
international
community lacks
unity in its fight
to eradicate the
menace of jihadism.
He again asks: “Why
did each country --
especially those
targeted by either
the Salafists or the
Khumenists and their
allies -- have its
own policies on
containment, and why
did some governments
actually grant
recognition to a
terror group even
though it was at war
with another
democracy?” Walid
Phares is probably
referring to Hamas
and its agenda to
destroy Israel. It
is obvious then that
the West needs to
establish a unified
front against
jihadism. He calls
this proposed front
the International
Alliance against
Jihadism. He further
notes with dismay
that India and
Pakistan face the
same challenges with
respect to terrorism
and yet their
bilateral politics
has prevented them
from adopting a
unified policy
against jihadism.
The affected nations
of the world
therefore need to
take up this
challenge and defeat
jihadism through a
joint policy against
the threat.
Phares also asserts
that the way to
defeat jihadism is
to democratize the
Middle East. The
term "Middle Earth"
employed for the
regions from Western
Sahara to Jammu and
Kashmir is a war
zone where jihadi
cells and jihadi
“emirates” are
likely to form
according to the
author. It is here
that religious and
ethnic minorities
suffer most. Women
also lack essential
human rights in
these countries.
Jihadist alliances
and activities have
created what the
author deems the
elitist “Arab
Islamic Order” which
has replaced the
Ottoman Empire in
some ways. He notes:
“The Ottoman empire
collapsed as an
institution, but the
imperialist design
of the doctrines of
jihadism survived.”
Also according to
Phares, the
oppressed minorities
include not only
women, but also men
who happen to be in
disagreement with
those in power. In
order to solve the
problem of
international
jihadism, these
minorities must be
empowered so that a
genuine pluralistic
tradition can emerge
in the Middle East.
The author realizes
this would entail an
entire paradigm
shift in the
cultural ethos of
the region.
The West and the
free world must,
according to Phares,
fund freedom by
adopting a more
accommodating policy
toward political
dissidents in the
Middle East.
The author notes
that jihad must be
recognized for what
it is. In this
regard the policy of
calling a jihadist
irhabi,
which translates as
‘terrorist’ is a
fallacy. According
to Phares, this was
“clearly a Jihadist
victory in the War
of Ideas” as their
agenda encompasses
much more than
international
terrorism.
He further notes
that “Word, for
word, the
consultants in the
Trojan Horses were
pushing for the
elimination of all
terminology
indicating the
existence of a
cohesive ideology,
Jihadism.” The
author concludes
that using the
terminology of the
jihadists is in fact
an admission of
defeat for those
opposing them.
More importantly for
the author, it is
Muslims who must
reject the doctrines
of Salafism,
Khumeinism and
Jihadism. That
discourse is yet to
emerge in the
Islamic world.
Phares points out
that it is part of
the Islamic
tradition to
challenge
radicalism, but in
modern times a
unified voice
against jihadists
simply does not
exist. Muslims must
hence produce a
discourse based on
democratic values
and modern standards
of international
cooperation. Once
again the West and
the free word must
support this
discourse.
From a Western
perspective, the war
against jihadist
ideology poses
unique problems
consequent to the
exceptional zeal the
latter generates and
its apocalyptic
promises. Armed with
theology, the
proponents of jihad
feel that “their
victories, when they
win, are the divine
will, and their
deaths, if they die,
are the will of
Allah.” Its foot
soldiers are the
economically
marginalized. They
must be empowered
economically to
fight jihadism
according to Phares.
The educational
system in these
countries must be
revamped as well, so
as to instill
tolerance in future
generations of
Muslims.
The book is an
incisive and
comprehensive
analysis of jihad
and its implications
for the modern
world. The author
provides practical
solutions to
combating jihadism
in the form of
policy
recommendations at
the national and
international level.
It is a must read
for those who wish
to understand the
influence of
Islamism and
jihadism in the
West.
Farzana Hassan
