Ebook: Islam in the Eyes of the West: Images and Realities in an Age of Terror

From the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 in New York to the Madrid and London bombings of 2004 and 2005, the presence of Muslim communities in the West has generated security issues and major political concern. The government, the media, and the general public have raised questions regarding potential links between Western Muslims, radical Islam and terrorism. This speculation has given rise to popular myths concerning the Islamic world and led to a host of illiberal measures such as illegal warranting, denial of Habeas Corpus, "black prisons" and extreme torture throughout the democratic world. This book challenges the authenticity of these myths and examines the ways in which they have been used to provide an ideological cover for the "war on terror" and the subsequent Iraq war. It argues that they are not only unfounded and hollow, but have also served a dangerous purpose, namely war-mongering and the empowering of the national-security state. It further considers the origin and transmission of these myths, focusing on media, government policy and popular discourse.

Tareq Y. Ismael is Professor of Political Science at the University of Calgary, Canada. He is the Editor of the International Journal of Contemporary Iraqi Studies ; his most recent publications include The Rise and Fall of the Communist Party in Iraq and Cultural Cleansing in Iraq: Why Museums were Looted, Libraries Burned and Academics Murdered.

Andrew Rippin is Professor of Islamic History at the University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 2006, his publications include Muslims: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices, and The Islamic World (both published by Routledge).