Islamists and the Global Order

This book presents a thought-provoking challenge to the commonly held belief that Islamists uniformly reject the Western-dominated world order. In the wake of George W. Bush’s declaration of a ‘global war on terror’ in 2001, Islamists have often been associated with violence, opposition to liberal values and the disruption of order. However, a closer examination reveals that only a fraction of the groups categorised as ‘Islamist’ genuinely combat the global order. Through an in-depth analysis of the discourses of Tunisian Ennahda and Lebanese Hezbollah, this book demonstrates that Islamist stances toward the world order involve a delicate balance between resistance to certain aspects of the Western-dominated order and recognition of others.

Author Biography

Hanna Pfeifer is Professor of Political Science with a focus on Radicalisation and Violence Research at Goethe University Frankfurt and the Peace Research Institute Frankfurt (PRIF). At PRIF, she also serves as the head of the research group on terrorism. Her research is centred on the dynamics of violent and non-violent politics of ordering, particularly in the context of interactions between state and non-state entities in West Asia and North Africa. Additionally, her expertise extends to German foreign and security policy. Her scholarly contributions have been featured, among others, in Civil Wars, Small Wars & Insurgencies, Foreign Policy Analysis, German Politics and Politics and Religion. She is co-editor (with Anna Geis and Maéva Clément) of the volume on Armed Non-state Actors and the Politics of Recognition (Manchester University Press, 2021).