Good Muslim, Bad Muslim: America, the Cold War, and the Roots of Terror by Mahmood Mamdani

Good Muslim, Bad Muslim: America, the Cold War, and the Roots of TerrorMahmood MamdaniThree LeavesJune 21, 2005In this brilliant look at the rise of political Islam, the distinguished political scientist and anthropologist Mahmood Mamdani brings his expertise and insight to bear on a question many Americans have been asking since 9/11: how did this happen? Mamdani dispels the idea of good (secular, westernized) and bad (premodern, fanatical) Muslims, pointing out that these judgments refer to political rather than cultural or religious identities. The presumption that there are good Muslims readily available to be split off from bad Muslims masks a failure to make a political analysis of our times. This book argues that political Islam emerged as the result of a modern encounter with Western power, and that the terrorist movement at the center of Islamist politics is an even more recent phenomenon, one that followed Americas embrace of proxy war after its defeat in Vietnam. Mamdani writes with great insight about the Reagan years, showing Americas embrace of the highly ideological politics of good against evil. Identifying militant nationalist governments as Soviet proxies in countries such as Nicaragua and Afghanistan, the Reagan administration readily backed terrorist movements, hailing them as the moral equivalents of Americas Founding Fathers. The era of proxy wars has come to an end with the invasion of Iraq. And there, as in Vietnam, America will need to recognize that it is not fighting terrorism but nationalism, a battle that cannot be won by occupation. Good Muslim, Bad Muslim is a provocative and important book that will profoundly change our understanding both of Islamist politics and the way America is perceived in the world today. From the Hardcover edition. About the AuthorMahmood Mamdani was born in Kampala, Uganda. A political scientist and anthropologist, he is Herbert Lehman Professor of Government and director of the Institute of African Studies at Columbia University. His previous books include Citizen and Subject and When Victims Become Killers. In 2001 he presented one of the nine papers at the Nobel Peace Prize Centennial Symposium. He lives in New York City and Kampala with his wife and son.From the Hardcover edition.About IcebergThe Iceberg Reader revolutionizes the reading experience, making it easier than ever to browse, buy and enjoy books.Features- Attractive interface provides a natural reading experience with full pagination.- Table of Contents incorporates one click navigation.- Vertical and horizontal page orientation.- Adjust font size with a pinch, text reflows automatically.- Search the text within a book.- Create margin notes with user notation.About ScrollmotionScrollMotion, creator of the Iceberg Reader, is a content technology company based in New York City. For more information, visit www.scrollmotion.com.SupportIf you have any technical problems please email us at icebergsupport@scrollmotion.com before you post a review.