The author details the House of Islam's war for world mastery. September 11th can be seen as simply the latest expression of this dream which has little to do with the U.S. policy in the Middle East and much to do with Islam's traditional and venerable quest for world mastery. 276pp Hardcover
From the first Arab-Islamic Empire of the mid-seventh century to the Ottomans, the last great Muslim empire, the story of the Middle East has been the story of the rise and fall of universal empires and, no less important, of imperialist dreams. So argues Efraim Karsh in this highly provocative book. Rejecting the conventional Western interpretation of Middle Eastern history as an offshoot of global power politics, Karsh contends that the region¿s experience is the culmination of long-existing indigenous trends, passions, and patterns of behavior, and that foremost among these is Islam's millenarian imperial tradition.
The author explores the history of Islam's imperialism and the persistence of the Ottoman imperialist dream that outlasted World War I to haunt Islamic and Middle Eastern politics to the present day. September 11 can be seen as simply the latest expression of this dream, and such attacks have little to do with U.S. international behavior or policy in the Middle East, says Karsh. The House of Islam's war for world mastery is traditional, indeed venerable, and it is a quest that is far from over. 276pp Hardcover (2006)
TABLE OF CONTENTS
List of Maps
Introduction
1. The Warrior Prophet
2. The Rise and Fall of Islam’s First Empire
3. The Best of Times, the Worst ofTimes
4. The House of Islam and the House ofWar
5. The Last Great Islamic Empire
6. The Price ofEmpire
7. Mishandling the Great Game
8. The Rise of the Arab Imperial Dream
9. An Arab Caesar
10. A Reckoning of Sorts
11. The Tail That Wags the Dog
12. Renewing the Quest for Allah’s Empire
13. Bin Laden’s Holy War
Epilogue
Notes
Index
About the Author(s) Efraim Karsh is professor and head of the Mediterranean Studies Programme, King's College, University of London. He has published extensively and often served as a consultant on Middle Eastern affairs, Soviet foreign policy, and European neutrality. His books include Empires of the Sand: The Struggle for Mastery in the Middle East, 1789-1923 and Saddam Hussein: A Political Biography.
