New York, Washington, Madrid, London and now Paris Ð the list of Western
cities targeted by radical Islamic terrorists waging global jihad
continues to grow. Does this extreme violence committed in the name of
Islam point to a fundamental enmity between the Muslim faith and the
West?
In this compelling essay, leading scholar of Islam Tamara Sonn argues
that whilst the West has many enemies among Muslims, it is politics not
religion that informs their grievances. The longer these demands remain
frustrated, the more violence has escalated and recruitment to groups
like Islamic State has increased. Far from quelling the spread of
Islamic extremism, Western military intervention has helped to turn
nationalist movements into radical terrorist groups with international
agendas. Islam, Sonn concludes, is not the problem, just as war is not
the solution.