Gilles Kepel

The interesting thesis of Kepel is not the success, but rather the failure of, jihadist Islam. Kepel explains in a straightforward manner how political Islam has failed and jihadistic efforts are an indication of how poorly jihad has fared. He is not claiming that jihad is not deadly, a threat, or will not sustain itself over the long term but it has tried and been found wanting.

The seeds of the destructing of jihad are found in the phenomenon itself. Kepel writes: 'Paradoxically, the Islamist experience itself has produced some of the conditions that have led to its own obsolescence. In the ranks of veiled female militants demanding application of the Sharia we see, in many cases, the first generation of women to speak in public outside their homes and beyond their domestic role' (p. 13).

By inference, the real challenge to Western democracies is not jihad, but sharia, which is more insidious and the West, consider Eurabia for example, has no in-built defense against an enemy that implodes Western liberties from within.… (more)

The author of this book is French, so he provides an interesting perspective on the past 8 years or so. Of interest in the book, his analysis of the propaganda wars of various factions within Islamic jihadist, especially in Iraq. But also more broadly among groups aligned variously with Palestinians and Iran--especially Hezbollah and Hamas. He also analyzes the events with Muslim populations in London, Netherlands, Denmark, France during the same period. Of course, France comes out looking the best. But given all of the anti-French rhetoric in the states over the past few years, this is definitely an interesting perspective. Thoughtful, mostly interesting book.… (more)