Sign in with Facebook
Loading...
2nd out of 29 books
—
10 voters
Engaging the Muslim World
by
Juan Cole
Western society is suffering from Islam Anxiety—the product of fear-mongering and misinformation. There is a desperate need to debunk the myths concerning Islam in order to improve the political and ideological understanding between Muslim countries and their Western counterparts. Juan Cole, already celebrated for his rejection of stereotypes and his insistence on taking a...more
Hardcover, 282 pages
Published
March 17th 2009
by Palgrave Macmillan
(first published March 13th 2009)
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
345)
I've watched an interview with the author last night on "The Colbert Report" TV show. In spite of the comic nature of the show, the book seems to have a very realistic and serious approach to the Islamic world. Denying -or correcting- a lot of the false stereotyping towards Muslims.
Review update:
I'm almost done with the book. I will definitly look forward to re-read it in Arabic. The author demonstrated his theoritical muscles and explained where and how the previous American administration went...more
Review update:
I'm almost done with the book. I will definitly look forward to re-read it in Arabic. The author demonstrated his theoritical muscles and explained where and how the previous American administration went...more
view 1 comment
While the title is about "engaging" the Muslim world, the book is actually an issue by issue and country by country report on the news making parts of the Muslim world. It has a concluding chapter on the importance of engagement. Ideas on how this engagement can take place are suggested throughout the book.
Refreshingly, the issue of oil is discussed. If you follow the US news reports, you might reasonably conclude that oil is a side issue. Cole is up front with it and begins his book with the fa...more
Refreshingly, the issue of oil is discussed. If you follow the US news reports, you might reasonably conclude that oil is a side issue. Cole is up front with it and begins his book with the fa...more
Cole is a rarity in American academia in that he participates in the public discourse. Additionally, his excellent blog, "Informed Comment," helps to shape the public discourse. This book provides an informed tour of the Middle East, and addresses American challenges in the region. His knowledge of history and culture is excellent, and I found new facts about a region with which I considered myself familiar about every other page. That said, I believe Cole overuses opinion polling to back his po...more
A great, and quick, review of US foreign policy in the Muslim world (actually the Middle East, Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan - Indonesia and the rest of South Asia are overlooked) and the historical factors effecting it. Pushes hard for diplomatic engagement with various parties, condemning the Bush policy of diplomatic isolation. Excellent intros to the Muslim Brotherhood, the Iraqi political scene and the contradictions in US foreign policy.
Only annoying thing is when he relates each point to...more
Only annoying thing is when he relates each point to...more
How we can repair the damage of the disastrous foreign policy of the last eight years, and forge ahead on a path of peace and prosperity.
With clarity and concision, Juan Cole disentangles the key foreign policy issues that America is grappling with today—from our dependence on Middle East petroleum to the promotion of Islamophobia by the American right—and delivers his informed advice on the best way forward.
A noted historian of the Middle East and a celebrated blogger, Cole has a unique ability...more
With clarity and concision, Juan Cole disentangles the key foreign policy issues that America is grappling with today—from our dependence on Middle East petroleum to the promotion of Islamophobia by the American right—and delivers his informed advice on the best way forward.
A noted historian of the Middle East and a celebrated blogger, Cole has a unique ability...more
This sounded like an interesting explication of how the United States fails to understand the Muslim world and how it could go about changing that. As I read, though, I discovered that what he covers should be fairly obvious to anyone who, I don't know, doesn't get their news from Fox News or the more believable lies in The New York Times.
Sure, Muslim majority countries have oil and we wants it, oh yess, Precious. The U.S. doesn't understand the difference between Muslim activists and what ar...more
Sure, Muslim majority countries have oil and we wants it, oh yess, Precious. The U.S. doesn't understand the difference between Muslim activists and what ar...more
Very insightful book. What pains me is his affirmation of how obtuse US foreign policy has been in relation to the Muslim world. It seems, and Cole confirms this, that every foreign policy decision made by the US in relation to the Middle East and oil-energy security is done out of short-term aims with Muslim-world governments and total disregard for Muslim populations and their puzzlement over America's behavior being so out of step with America's democratic ideals.
Juan Cole is a professor of political science at the University of Michigan and he writes the blog "Informed Comment," which became a popular source of information about the Middle East after 9/11. This introduction to Middle East politics responds to American anxiety about Islam and the Muslim world by explaining that the Muslim world is not the simplistic monolith Western media narratives often portray.
I was pretty ignorant about the broader background issues of the middle eastern/Asian Islamic countries. Learning about the cultural, religious, social and political aspects of the region help highlight the complexity of actions and policies - much more complex than popular American opinion and most US international policy suggests. This book was a great overview for me. A lot of information in one place.
fair and concise overview of the Middle East; Cole's policy prescriptions for solving the energy crisis, improving relations w/ Iran and the Muslim world, and resolving the Israeli - Palestinian conflict will not come as a surprise to anyone even vaguely informed on the topics, but they do enjoy popular support across the globe.
his observations on Central and South Asia, in particular Afghanistan, I feel are better explained elsewhere by scholars and journalists from the area. From my personal...more
his observations on Central and South Asia, in particular Afghanistan, I feel are better explained elsewhere by scholars and journalists from the area. From my personal...more
Some of Coles claims contradict themselves and some of his conclusions are very loosely formed and, in my opinion, not true, i.e. that American military forces did not engage Ansar al-Islam during the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Overall, the underlining premises of Cole's work are good and he offers a fresh perspective that is sorely lacking amongst American politicians and public alike. For students of the "clash of civilizations" theory of Bernard Lewis and Samuel Huntington, this is an excellent p...more
An excellent overview of Cole's thinking over the past several years. Unfortunately, as such, he sometimes glosses over issues, which would be impossible not to do in a book of such great coverage (all major M.E. crises) and such short page count (250 as I remember). While I can forgive him for the glossing over, he is sometimes exceedingly partisan, and I think, perhaps too idealistic about the promise of negotiation and compromise with certain regimes (particularly Iran and Palestine).
Insightful with lots of prehensible history. The facts and backstories are engaging, in and of themselves. Prof Juan Cole makes a solid argument for re-thinking energy policies and encouraging dialogue with our global colleagues.
Highly recommend. An excellent summary of the history and politics of the middle east. Very timely.
I gave this book 4 stars for what it should have been, not for how I felt about it.
Cole is a master - a Middle East historian who diverges greatly from the Lewis camp of Near East affairs. But this book, which started off strong, soon lost my interest. It might be because much of the information I've read before.
This book is an extremely important book, and Cole presents the information in a way that is easily accessible to people who don't know much about the region or about the issues. People...more
Cole is a master - a Middle East historian who diverges greatly from the Lewis camp of Near East affairs. But this book, which started off strong, soon lost my interest. It might be because much of the information I've read before.
This book is an extremely important book, and Cole presents the information in a way that is easily accessible to people who don't know much about the region or about the issues. People...more
An excellent look behind the hype and myths that screen us from the reality of the Muslim world.
Terrific insight into Iranian culture.
werking on it...
Apr 22, 2013
Cassie
marked it as to-read
Apr 22, 2013
Leyla
is currently reading it
Apr 16, 2013
Maya Sparks
marked it as to-read
Apr 11, 2013
Bilal
added it
Apr 04, 2013
Alexandra Volcy de nes
marked it as to-read
Mar 31, 2013
Rony Makarony
marked it as to-read
Mar 27, 2013
Donald Powell
marked it as to-read
Mar 11, 2013
Laura Preuss
marked it as to-read
Mar 04, 2013
Kelsey
marked it as to-read
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Excerpt: Engaging the Muslim World | 1 | 7 | Jun 23, 2009 08:32am | |
| Interview with Juan Cole | 1 | 4 | Jun 17, 2009 09:30am |
