The Islam/West Debate

Documents from a Global Debate on Terrorism, U.S. Policy, and the Middle East

Edited by David Blankenhorn, Abdou Filali-Ansary, Hassan I. Mneimneh, Alex Roberts

Publication date:

21 September 2005

Length of book:

304 pages

Publisher

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

ISBN-13: 9780742550063

In 2002, sixty prominent American intellectuals released an open letter defending the use of military force against al-Qa'ida. The letter sparked an impassioned international debate unlike any other, in which jihadists, journalists, liberal Muslims, and German pacifists engaged one another on the most pressing issues of our time: terrorism, U.S. policy, and Islam-West relations.

A valuable resource for specialist and non-specialist alike, this volume chronicles that debate and includes contributions from both sides of the political spectrum in America and the Middle East-and even from al-Qa'ida.

Chapter 1 Introducing the Debate
Chapter 2 What We're Fighting For: A Letter from America
Chapter 3 What We're Fighting For: A Follow-Up
Chapter 4 Key Intellectualism
Chapter 5 The Letter is American, the Schizophrenia Islamic
Chapter 6 Options Are Limited
Chapter 7 How We Can Coexist
Chapter 8 Please Prostrate Yourselves Privately
Chapter 9 Letter to the American People
Chapter 10 Reading an Enemy: Analyzing al-Qa‘ida's “Letter to America”
Chapter 11 What We're Defending: A Letter from Makkah in Response to the Open Letter from Sixty American Intellectuals
Chapter 12 Can We Coexist? A Response from Americans to Colleagues in Saudi Arabia
Chapter 13 Saudis Ban Paper with U.S. Scholars' Letter
Chapter 14 American Values Abroad
Chapter 15 The First Point of Disagreement
Chapter 16 Learning through Letters
Chapter 17 The New Intra-Arab Cultural Space in Form and Content: The Debates Over an American “Letter”
Chapter 18 The Need for a Paradigm Shift in American Thinking: Middle Eastern Responses to “What We're Fighting For”; “Together with the Democratic Iraq Initiative and the Sharon Initiative”
Chapter 19 Pre-Emption, Iraq, and Just War: A Statement of Principles
Chapter 20 A World of Justice and Peace Would Be Different
Chapter 21 Letter from U.S. Citizens to Friends in Europe
Chapter 22 Is the Use of Force Ever Morally Justified?
Chapter 23 The U.S.-German Conversation
Chapter 24 In the Twenty-First Century, There Is No Longer Any Justification for War
Chapter 25 Just War and Internationalism: Oppositional or Complementary?
Chapter 26 The Arab World and the United States: A Just War?

Gathered here in one place is a remarkably comprehensive display of the clashes—some strident, some more thoughtful—over “the clash of civilizations.” There is no substitute for listening to both friends and enemies having their say in their own words. Following September 11, the question was frequently asked, “Why do they hate us so?” The Islam/West Debate is a good place to find out. But be warned that finding out will not necessarily, will not probably, result in greater hopefulness about alleviating disagreements.