Resistance: The Essence of the Islamist Revolution [Paperback]

Have you considered why it is that Western culture postures as believing in fairness, equality, respect and freedom -- then savages and brutalises any cultures and nations that do not agree with its ideas? Have you wondered why the West's concepts of justice and equality only seem important when dealing with some countries and not others? Have you wondered why , the West, after centuries of seeking knowledge and wisdom, now seem so lost and directionless and ultimately appear shallow and ungrounded? Have you ever wondered why all of the West's philosophies and concepts are overwhelmingly, held in thrall ultimately to the power of the market and values of materialism?

Have you wondered why relentless ego centric self seeking and the pleasure principle seem to underpin all of the West's aims and objectives and cultural expression at every level? Why is everything in the West ultimately measured by , and reduced to exchange value, monetary profit and sale reward, at the cost of everything else? Why are values of decency, community, dignity and spirituality repeatedly trampelled on in pursuit of those aims; and why are those aims considered the highest value, indeed,so desirable that they signify the end of all other values, the end of all alternative seeking -- the end of history no less?

If these concepts interest, then Alastair Crooke's book will prove valuable.

Firstly, Crooke makes it clear to the reader that he is not a political scientist nor a doctor of history -- his expertise has, rather, been gathered over many years in his governmental advisory and think tank roles in the Middle East.

Crooke brings together a broad sweep of knowledge and contrasting disciplines, to scrutinize the position of the West and Islam at the start of the 21st century -- and for those readers who believed in the innate superiority of free market, Laissez fair capitalism and the 'moral monopoly' of American fundamentalist and Puritan based Christianity, it will be a sobering and challenging read. For those readers who believe in the superiority of the West's philosophical traditions, from the German thinkers of the 18Th century to the neo con Machiavellians of the 21st century, it will also challenge.

The author brings his considerable knowledge of post war philosophers such as Horkheimer and Adorno of the Frankfurt School to the table, emphasising their critique of materialism .Crooke shows how in some regards, those thinkers' theses parallel and resemble Islamic criticisms of a lost and degenerating Anglo American culture; a way of life and thought mired in endless craving for immediate satisfaction.

The text also analyses how the West has not developed further from the significant insights revealed by the Post Modernists ( such as Lyotard ). Anglo American culture appears to have failed to build on or develop worthy values, as their own understanding of historical narratives rapidly unravels.

I recommend this book to anyone who wishes to gain deeper insight into the valid struggles of Islamic people; a people who long for a world not governed by shallow materialism ,and long for a justice system that is not controlled by hypocritical and selective "one rule for us, another for them" thinking.

Crooke suggests that the insights of the Post Modernists have shaken the confidence in the earlier wisdom of the West -- yet those cracked foundations have not been replaced by anything of value by Westerners; rather Europe and America have continued to perpetuate and export by force, more of the same relentless materialistic values, even though many of us can see that those values have failed, again and again.

Alastair Crooke has written an informed, very readable, unbiased analysis of the reasons why western thinkers and politicians are unable to communicate with their islamic counterparts. Whilst some reasons are clearly found in the actual, unspun historical record, the more fundamental causes are to be found in the assumptions about the very nature of the good life, of the good society, of the good person. And in the west, of the good economy, which it is widely believed solves all the other problems. He views Islamist resistance as a last resort where all else has failed. But he also sees some resistance movements, such as Hesballah, as developing a new, more open, less fundamentalist, less violent, model of life in Islam under threat.
This book should be required reading for every politician in the west. And in the east. Or if you think politicians are beyond it, just get all your friends to read it. Make it an Amazon project. Start a world resistance. A human revolution.

There are already a number of great reviews of this book; so I will keep this relatively short. I am now on the last twenty pages of this book and it has been enlightening and thought provoking. Crooke analyses the essence of western imperialist market culture as much as Islamist resistance. Nearly every major media outlet in the west (certainly in the UK) has become more simplistic, happy to use simple labels such as "terrorist". Recently we had the awful "Generation Jihad", which explained nothing, because there was no attempt to put the views of young Islamic men into the context of what is happening in the middle east and what they can see happening in the west; vacuous individualism, greed, the religion of market lead forces and the heartless imperialism of nations states.
Alastair Crooke tries to look at things differently. If you are a fan of John Gray or Naomi Klein you will recognise the voice of reason here; Crooke is actually trying to tell Western leaders that there is a need for genuine morality in the West. They need to stop living in fear of the market and start to control big business. Without it we will only demonise those who are not like us and no essential humanity will be found to bring the people of the world together.
Essential reading for anyone right now.