The Islamic Shield focuses on the interaction between
political Islam and world politics. Washington’s "War on Terrorism" has used democratization of the Arab World as a justification and a weapon. The Islamic Shield
contends that genuine religious and political reforms in the Arab World
are sheer fantasy: they are not expected for a very long time, if ever.
The Islamic Shield argues that democratic ideology cannot
defeat Islamic theology. A culture of blind obedience to autocratic
authority at home, school, mosque, and work place has been turned into
a form of piety by the ulama clerics.
The Islamic shield analyzes the likely
consequences of Arab resistance to political and religious reforms in
the Middle East and beyond, especially the Arab-Israeli conflict and
the U.S. project in Iraq. The book examines the factors, which might
prompt young, sometimes affluent and educated men and women to
self-annihilate. In addition to a deficit of freedom, extremist
Islamist indoctrination as well as domestic and foreign political
factors are identified. The book concludes that politically expedient
solutions will fail to defeat Jihadism and terrorism.
The Islamic Shield examines why democratic institutions
are a mirage in two profoundly different countries: Saudi Arabia, an
Islamist monarchy, and Syria, a quasi-secular republic. Although the
two countries differ in types of governance, ideologies, agendas, natural
resources, and climate they share in common non-representative, non-participatory
dictatorial regimes. The two countries approximate socio-political
models found in other Arab monarchies and republics.
The Islamic Shield considers such questions as: How
likely is it that a future Arab Martin Luther, or a Kemal Ataturk might
emerge? Why do non-Arab Islamic countries elect women as prime
ministers and presidents while Arab ulama and most Arab rulers treat
women as lesser beings and condemn democracy as un-Islamic? Is
benevolent dictatorship a viable alternative to Arab democracy? Who
shapes the Islamic persona? Is Islamic law changeable? If yes, who may
change it? What might the legacy of the George W. Bush administration
be in the Muslim world? What might be the eventual outcome of the "War
on Terrorism"?
Experiments
in Achieving Water and Food Self-Sufficiency in the Middle East
This book is my Ph.D. research conducted between 2002 and 2005 at London University's School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS). Experiments... aims to quantify and analyze how two water scarce but
ideologically different Middle Eastern political economies, Saudi
Arabia and Syria, addressed water sector investment between 1980 and
2000. The study examines how narrow-coalitions of decision-makers
obsessed by impossible-to-achieve food self-sufficiency goals, lacking
environmental consideration, and safe political processes contributed to
massively waste scarce resources and unsustainable water policies.
