�It is a commonly held belief that Islamic regimes are authoritarian in nature, crushing democratic freedom and Western ideals. Graham E. Fuller, resident senior political consultant at RAND Corporation in Washington, D.C. and former Vice-Chairman of the National Intelligence Council at CIA contends that it is wrong to argue that Islam and Muslims are enemies of the West.
����� The Future of Political Islam asserts that in the wake of the 11 September 2001 attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, an obsessive focus on radical Islamic extremism by the West has blinded us from another emerging trend, that of liberal political Islam. Fuller argues that proponents of liberal political Islam support human rights and democracy, tolerance and cooperation, and are struggling, like much of the developing world, with dilemmas of modernization, rejecting foreign domination, removing present dictators, experiencing the need to build a fair society and achieve greater social justice.
��� In an interview preceding the launch of the book, Fuller was asked whether Islam was compatible with democracy today. He replied, ??No religion has historically talked about democracy. The real issue is: what do Muslims want? They want a voice in their political order. Islamist movements represent the largest and the sole alternative to most entrenched authoritarian regimes today.??
Tracing the roots of Muslim hostility to the West, Fuller explicates that the Muslim world has been under terrible shock and anguish for having fallen under apocalyptic times after being the world?s leading civilization for 800 years. Starting in the 16th century, they found themselves subordinated, weaker and left behind by a rising West. The anguish of that event is still present amongst the Muslims, and has assumed an unprecedented violent form in events of 9/11.
���� Islamism includes Osama bin Laden and the Taliban but also moderates and liberals. Fuller maintains that the biggest mistake by President Bush after 9/11 has been overstating that the war on terrorism is not a war on Islam. By seeking to separate Islam from politics, the West ignores the reality that the two are inextricably linked.The chapter ?Islamism in Power?, typified for Fuller by Iran, Sudan and Afghanistan, underscores that the experience of Islamist governance is not encouraging. This is evidenced by the failure of political Islam in these countries, even though it managed to replace authoritarian regimes, but a forceful accession to power inevitably results in an authoritarian structure.
����� One fact that escapes mention in this book, particularly in the chapter ?Islam and Terrorism?, is Wahhabism, the foundation of Islamic extremism for the past 250 years. Fuller does not take into account the Saudi factor, which is the quintessence of the political manipulation of Islam, treating non-Wahhabi Muslims as enemies and paying for terrorist organizations across the globe.
The chapter on ?Impact of Global Forces on Political Islam? is riveting and conveys the turmoil the Muslim world is experiencing, as Islamists struggle to cope with the forces of globalization, the overwhelming spread of information technology impacting traditional Muslim culture and beliefs, and the experience of millions of Muslims securing advanced degrees in Western universities. The chapter predicts that the next decade will witness a shift from a world dominated by a single hegemon, primarily due to dwindling US willingness to engage in an activist and widespread foreign policy.
������ The reader?s interest is likely to wane mid-way, as the Fuller traverses the clich�d terrain of ?theological differences between Islam and Christianity? and the fear pervading the West about the militant power of Islam. Instead of scrutinizing the distinctions between Islam, Islamic political thought and Islamist politics, Fuller provides only generalizations.
����� Fuller is passionate in his belief that the fundamentalist-modernist struggle in Islam is just warming up. The Americans brought up to venerate the separation of church and state may be sceptical of a movement with an explicit religious vision ever creating a democratic polity. But if Christian Democrats can do it, there is no reason in principle why Islamists cannot. He reiterates that transforming the Muslim milieu by rewriting school textbooks will not democratise the Muslim world. Non-Muslims should understand that democratic values are latent in Islamic thought if one wants to look for them, and that it would be more natural for the Muslim world to derive contemporary liberal practices from its own sources than importing them from foreign cultures.
It is vital that the endeavour by the Islamists to recreate their past glory is encouraged by the West. Political Islam has the potential to play a positive or a harshly negative role in the future development of the Muslim world. Fuller ends with the hope that liberal Islamists work towards a renewed understanding of Islam, and find allies in the process.
������ The book is a welcome addition to the growing literature on the subject and states the prognosis on the future of Political Islam: ??a worsening of the relationship between international Islam and the United States is anticipated, and the process may result in more extensive terrorism against Americans specifically?Such a situation will place the United States in a deeply defensive position across the Muslim world as increased small scale terrorism takes its toll against the United State.?