Most Helpful Customer Reviews
|
|
21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Profound and highly enlightening, 16 Jun 2003
In this fascinating book, British Philosopher (and former university professor) Roger Scruton looks at the West and the Islamic world, and examines what has brought on the present crisis. It is his contention that the both the Western and the Islamic worlds are in a state of crisis. In the Islamic world, the increase in population and the concomitant urbanization has produced alienation, while the march of globalization has brought it face to face with a Western world that it both envies and hates. In the West, the whole of Western culture is under assault from an elitist, post-Modernist "Culture of Repudiation" that wishes to tear down the culture, but has nothing to erect in its place.Along the way, Mr. Scruton treats the reader to a profound and highly enlightening look at the foundations of modern Western and Islamic political ideology; where they came from, where they are going, and what has produced such hostility. The conclusion of the book is small, with some suggestions to "constrain" the process of globalization, thus minimizing the threat perceived by the Muslim world, but nothing more far-reaching than that. I found this book to be both enlightening and somewhat frightening. Mr. Scruton's analysis suggests that the roots of the present hostility emanating from the Middle East are very deep indeed, and not likely to be ameliorated by any simple or easy solution. If there was one book that I would urge everyone to read, so as to understand the present world, this would be it! Please read this book.
|
|
|
15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A thought-provoking analysis of the West and Islam, 11 Feb 2003
The title - 'Globalisation and the Terrorist Threat' does not give an accurate impression as to the content of this book. Actually such issues are only explored in depth in the final third. The first three chapters instead focus on the disctinct cultural differences that exist in the West and in the Islamic world. The author explains why the differences between these quite dissimilar societies arise from both religious thought and the individual's attitudes toward the state. The book presents to the reader a plausible explaination why Muslims find it difficult to respect secular governance, that which is apparent in the West.
In a defense of the nation state, Scruton questions our attitudes toward immigration, Europe etc and then shows how the West is in fact responsible, in part, for the rise of terrorism.
This eloquently written book is valuable, not only to political and sociological scholars, but indeed to anyone who wishes to inquire about the 'West-Rest' relationship.
|
|
|
25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
first impressions mislead, 17 Mar 2005
Roger Scruton is known for his position somewhere on the traditional right of the political spectrum. Indeed he has written a defence of conservatism. Those on the left may therefore be wary of this book. But as someone who has not in the past sympathised with Scruton's politics I can strongly recommend this book. The book's strength is its intellectual seriousness combined with its clarity of expression. Anyone who is interested in the history of ideas will find this book of interest, since it goes much deeper than the aftermath of 9/11 and addresses the enlightenment and the modern nation-state by contrast with developments in the Islamic world. It also deals with the puzzling, not to say wrongheaded, disposition of some western intellectuals to belittle the cultural heritage of the west and ignore the many benefits this has brought ordinary people the world over. For such intellectuals the west can never redeem itself for the "guilt" associated with its historical dominance over other cultural traditions.
|
|
|
Most Recent Customer Reviews
|
by Roger Scruton
by Roger Scruton
by Roger Scruton
by Roger Scruton
by Roger Scruton
