West And The Rest

Since last September's terrorist attacks on the United States, a number of explanatory theses have been advanced. But few if any have matched the analytical depth and originality displayed by the noted English philosopher and cultural commentator Roger Scruton in The West and the Rest: Globalization and the Terrorist Threat. In this important monograph, Scruton argues that to comprehend Islamist terrorism, one must understand both the unique historical evolution of the state and the dynamic of globalization.Scruton contends that a fundamental gulf separates those nations that are in some sense the inheritors of the Roman-Christian political tradition and those that are not. Nations outside this political tradition are not really states -- which are characterized by the rule of law and the presence of representative political processes -- but fiefdoms secured primarily by power. Most Islamic nations are thus non-states, because Islamic jurisprudence typically rejects the notion that secular government has its own legitimate sphere of authority. Yet migration and other aspects of globalization have inexorably brought peoples living in Islamic non-states into constant contact with the images, products, and peoples of secular, liberal democracies. The West's projection of itself is as titillating as it is threatening and humiliating. Sure to generate debate, The West and the Rest is a powerful contribution to our national conversation about terrorism, civil society, and liberal democracy.