Good Muslim, Bad Muslim : America, the Cold War, and the Roots of Terror
Mahmood Mamdani
Published April, 2004; 320 pages; index
In a
brilliant study of the rise of contemporary political Islam,
distinguished political scientist Mahmood Mamdani brings his
expertise to bear on a question many Americans have been asking
since 9/11: how did this happen?
Mahmood Mamdani’s conclusions are as
incontrovertible as they are highly provocative. He dispels the
idea of “good” (secular, westernized) Muslims, and “bad”
(primitive, fanatical) Muslims, underlining the fact that Islam
is not a politically based religion. Focusing on the reasons
Islam has become politicized, Mamdani shows how the American
government’s indirect, post–Vietnam-era sponsorship of terrorist
leaders in Indochina and Africa began as a way of dealing with
the perceived threat of spreading Soviet influence in these
regions. He reminds us how President Reagan openly supported the
contras in Nicaragua—calling them the “moral equivalents” of the
Founding Fathers—and eagerly embraced the mujahideen of
Afghanistan. He explains how America’s rigidly supportive
policies toward Israel have fuelled the problems in the Middle
East. Finally, he makes clear how the West’s distorted political
analysis of Islam and its activities continue to dangerously
skew its response to them.
Here
is a book that will profoundly change our understanding of both
Islam and America’s position in the world today.
Mahmood Mamdani is from Kampala,
Uganda. He has taught at the University of Dar-es-Salaam,
Makerere University and University of Cape Town, and is
currently Herbert Lehman Professor of Government and director of
the Institute of African Studies at Columbia University in New
York. His previous book Citizen and Subject was recognized as
‘one of Africa’s 100 best books of the 20th century’ and was
also awarded the Herskovitz Prize of the African Studies
Association of USA for ‘the best book on Africa published in the
English language in 1996’. Mahmood Mamdani was President of
CODESRIA from 1999 to 2002. In 2001, he presented one of the
nine papers at the Nobel Peace Prize Centennial Symposium.
2004; ISBN 2-86978-134-2 (pb); £14.95 /$20.95
Contents
-
Acknowledgments
-
Introduction: Modernity
and Violence
-
Chapter One: Culture
Talk; or, How Not to Talk About Islam and Politics
-
Chapter Two: The Cold War
After Indochina
-
Chapter Three:
Afghanistan: The High Point in the Cold War
-
Chapter Four: From Proxy War to
Open Aggression
-
Conclusion: Beyond
Impunity and Collective Punishment
-
Notes
-
Index
For orders :
(There
is a 30% discount for orders in Africa)
Africa:
Publications and Communication
CODESRIA
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BP 3304
CP 18524, Dakar, Senegal
Email:
codesria@codesria.sn
Rest of the world:
African Books Collective
The Jam Factory
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