Negotiating Change: The New Politics of the Middle East (Library of Modern Middle East Studies)

As the US demand for Western-style democracy in the Middle East grows ever more strained, Harvard Middle East expert Jeremy Jones travels through the region evaluating the prospects for change. He engages with diverse political cultures, from traditional assemblies in the Persian Gulf, to sophisticated multiconfessional politics in the Levant. Drawing on 25 years experience in the region, and hundreds of interviews with government officials, opposition leaders, grassroots activists and ordinary people, he finds real momentum towards democratic reform, but concludes that to be successful and durable, it must be pursued through local political cultures, not in spite of them. With a new perspective on a troubled region, his critique of US policy argues that promoting a ""one-size-fits-all"" democratic model has been misguided, and ultimately counter-productive. Over the last decade, at a time when the forces of'Islamic fundamentalism'appear to be the dominant face of Islam in the West, a vibrant and equally consequential discourse has emerged from a number of prominent Muslim thinkers who wish to reform and reformulate some of the main premises of Islamic theology and jurisprudence. The central goal of these'New Islamists'- who are based throughout the Islamic world, from Indonesia and Malaysia in Southeast Asia to Algeria and Morocco in north Africa - is to reinterpret popular notions of Islam that are consistent with and supportive of the tenets of modern life. Their corpus of work touches on three broad themes: Islamic hermeneutics; Islam's relationship with modernity; and the relationship of Islam with democracy and civil rights. The thinkers whose work is reproduced in this book represent some of the most notable Muslim intellectuals of our time, and include Tariq Ramadan (Switerland), Abdul Rahman Abbad (Palestine), Fethullah Gulen (Turkey), Chandra Muzzafar (Tunisia), Yusuf al Qaradawy (Qatar), Nasr Abu Zaid (Egypt) and Mohammed Arkoun (Algeria). Despite their importance in their own countries, seldom before have their voices been heard by western audiences. Yet both on their own, and collectively, the arguments that these thinkers advance point to very significant changes in the direction and evolution of Islamic doctrine as a whole. This timely volume, which places the life, career and arguments of each thinker in their proper national and historical contexts, at last gives the reformist tradition within Islam the attention it deserves. The Middle East is frequently portrayed as a collection of stubbornly authoritarian states, whose behaviour can only be changed by the table-thumping or even the military intervention of the US government. But as Jeremy Jones uncovers in this fascinating book, the region is in fact engaged in a profound and tumultuous process of political change. The movements seeking democracy and reform that have emerged are rooted in local cultures and political traditions. And because of this, they are overlooked, obstructed, or even undermined by the US's pursuit of a one-size fits all Western democratic model.A veteran Harvard Middle East analyst, Jeremy Jones travels from Morocco to Oman, from Egypt to Iran listening to grassroots activists, and interviewing major political leaders, such as Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan. He provides a vivid picture of the changing political cultures of the Middle East. He looks at new forms of political Islam, from Hamas in the West Bank to the Justice and Development Party in Turkey to Hizballah in Lebanon, demonstrating how each movement grew out of its local context. He meets women politicians in the Gulf, Hamas leaders in Ramallah and democracy activists in Jordan and Syria, seeking to understand how these new forces relate to each other, to their societies, and to Western policies. In a trenchant critique of the much-vaunted US'democratisation agenda', Jones concludes that a participatory and accountable political culture is slowly emerging in spite, not because of Western foreign policies. "Over the last decade, at a time when the forces of 'Islamic fundamentalism' appear to be the dominant face of Islam in the West, a vibrant and equally significant discourse has emerged from a number of prominent Muslim thinkers who wish to reformulate some of the main premises of Islamic theology and jurisprudence. The central goal of these 'New Islamists' is to reinterpret popular notions of Islam that are consistent with the tenets of modern life. Their work touches on three broad themes: Islamic hermeneutics; Islam's relationship with modernity; and the relationship of Islam with democracy and civil rights. The thinkers whose work is showcased in this book represent some of the most notable Muslim intellectuals of our time. They include Tariq Ramadan, Abdul Rahman Abbad, Fethullah Gulen, Chandra Muzzafar, Yusuf al Qaradawy, Nasr Abu Zaid and Mohammed Arkoun. Despite their importance in their own countries, seldom before have their voices been heard by western audiences. This timely volume, which places the life, career and arguments of each thinker in their proper national and historical contexts, remedies that neglect."--Bloomsbury Publishing Over the years, a significant discourse has emerged from a number of prominent Muslim thinkers who wish to reformulate Islamic theology and jurisprudence. This book talks about their work, on the themes of Islamic hermeneutics; Islam's relationship with modernity; and the relationship of Islam with democracy and civil rights. The title of a conference held at an Ivy League University in the spring of 2005 was Democracy in the Middle East. Mehran Kamrava, Editor. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 263-282) And Index. Jeremy Jones. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [266]-273) And Index.