Book Review - The War of Ideas: Jihad Against Democracy
The War of Ideas: Jihad Against Democracy
Written by: Walid Phares,
Palgrave Macmillan, 2007,
ISBN: 9781403976390, 266 pp.
Reviewed by: Lieutenant Colonel Jason Thomas
The referees for the author of this book are many and varied. Phares is, according to the book sleeve, a world renowned expert on Islamic based terrorism and the Middle-East, with many television and governmental interviews. It is obvious upon reading the text that his knowledge of the subject is indeed impressive. Additionally, he makes heavy use throughout of his own experiences and the work of others. Many, but not all of his contentions are provided with supporting references.
Phares’ main thesis is that we are currently experiencing a global conflict of ideals, that of fundamental Islam versus democracy based on Western ideals. Phares is passionate about the necessity of the West to win. He sums up this concept as The War of Ideas; the book leads us to this through a brief historical introduction and an outlining of fundamentalist doctrines. The last chapters of the book sum up Phares’ ‘War of Ideas’ and offers future strategies to counter this.
For a military reader, this book does offer a very good introduction to Salafist agendas and aims. It provides a summary of this rise of fundamentalism and acknowledges some of the causes. But also for the military mind, it will offer some points to assess. All soldiers are taught that a threat equals a capability plus an intent. Phares claims that this is a war of minds being waged against the West—whether such a war can actually mobilise the resources necessary for a decisive outcome is not discussed.
He does however fall victim to generalisation and oversimplification—one example is his treatment of Hezbollah. He places them as having an immutable and constant agenda, which in some cases he aligns with Salafists. This is an oversimplification, to say the least, and this undermines his broader thesis. He is also too dismissive of the importance of economic and welfare reform in combating any fundamentalist threat. This book is worth reading, not for what it achieves, but for what it tried to achieve. To this reader, it fails, it is overly ambitious in scope, and the author’s rigorous academic qualifications cannot unfortunately justify compressing his views into 240-odd rather iconoclastic pages. It is a good introduction to fundamentalist agendas, and makes the reader ponder how to operate in a world where it exists and when necessary must be contained. It should not, however, be read in isolation nor solely with similar texts cluttering the shelves of bookshops. These and The War of Ideas tend to oversimplify, through the mantra of globalism, what are truly complex issues with deep historical roots.
