New Book: The Confrontation: Winning the War Against Future Jihad
By Walid Phares
This is to introduce my new book The Confrontation: Winning the War against Future Jihad which has been released today
In my first post 9/11 book, Future Jihad: Terrorist Strategies Against the West, I attempted to explain the roots, the strengths and the strategies of the Jihadist regimes and movements. In short the "what do they want to do."
In my following book, The War of Ideas: Jihadism Against Democracy, I tried to show how the Jihadi forces waged three campaigns to seize the minds and hearts of millions of people. The first war of ideas was when they penetrated the Arab and Muslim world. The second war of ideas was when they infiltrated the West. And the Third War of Ideas is taking place now. In short the "how they did it."
My first two books were both read widely, particularly by members of the U.S. Congress, the UK House of Lords and Commons and in the European Parliament, as well as the defense, national security and expert communities.
In this third book of the "trilogy" I am attempting to analyze the long-term plans of the terror forces and their capacities both within the nation and around the world: A potential outline of the blueprints for the next stage.
Evidently this is a critical year. Americans are debating the future of the War on Terror and their own national security future. As voters head to the polls, they must decide what the best policies are to be adopted by the next White House and Congress. But beyond the debate about the new direction in America The Confrontation offers an all-out strategic plan to gather all possible national resources and reconstruct a world front against Jihadi terror. For in my conclusions, I feel that not only is it possible, but this is our only way as democracies to win the conflict. In this book I also make the case for a revolutionary agenda based on what the Jihadi forces are planning on doing -and what we can do about it.
I argue that the first step is to identify the threat. I use several chapters to explain how we cannot make progress if we don’t know why - and how - the enemy is moving forward. Thus, the War on Terror must be redefined. To do this, a cultural and intellectual revolution is necessary within the Western free world. Such intellectual developments, based on public awareness, must enable the public to understand the history, ideology and strategies of the Salafists, Khomeinists and their allies worldwide. Once an understanding is achieved, it will lead to an economic and diplomatic revolution within the West so that the terrorists won’t be able to use our systems and needs against us.
We also need to seize every inch of common ground we have with potential allies against Jihadists, from France and Europe to Russia to India and beyond.
Finally, I call for a revolution in the Arab and Muslim world: a war of ideas to enable the weak, democratic and ant-terrorist sectors of that society - our real allies in this deadly conflict.
All of these rationalized (and perhaps daring) steps are needed to reverse the balance of power and isolate the radicals. I have tried to provide answers to many of the questions raised in the U.S. political debate: Iraq, Afghanistan, al Qaeda, Homeland Security, Homegrown Terror, Europe, Russia, Africa and the Greater Middle East. I am glad to report -and I am honored- that The Confrontation has been praised and endorsed by leading members of Congress and the European Parliament who are familiar with my previous work. Like any author in the field of international relations and strategic studies I hope it will have its share of influence on our choices for our future directions in the War on Terror.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgments vii
Prologue: Why This Book? 1
Introduction 11
Chapter 1. Redefining the War 19
Chapter 2. Western Rethinking 29
Chapter 3. Cultural Revolution in the West 43
Chapter 4. Economic Revolution 53
Chapter 5. Diplomatic Revolution 75
Chapter 6. Revolution in the Arab Muslim World 99
Chapter 7. War of Ideas Intensified 123
Chapter 8. Isolating Jihadism 133
Chapter 9. U.S. Homeland Survival 143
Chapter 10. A Greater Europe to Confront Jihadism 155
Chapter 11. Russia’s War on Jihadism 181
Chapter 12. Confrontations in the Greater Middle East 195
Chapter 13. The Southern Battlefields 213
Chapter 14. The State of the Confrontation 237
Conclusion: Past Choices and New Directions 255
Notes 273
Index
The book was published by Palgrave MacMillan. It has a web site: www.theconfrontation.net
Dr Walid Phares is Senior Fellow with the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies and a Visiting Scholar with the European Foundation for Democracy. Phares@walidphares.com