Unmodern Men in the Modern World

A sense of malaise and uncertainty surrounds the so-called war on terror. This volume offers a bold rethinking of the central challenge in that conflict: the rise of radical Islamism. Mazarr argues that this movement represents the latest in a series of anti-modern political and philosophical rebellions: in its causes, the shape of its ideology, and its social consequences, the movement shares much in common with German fascism, Russian revolutionary doctrines, and Japanese imperialist nationalism. The book builds a model of how anti-modern movements arise and suggests broader truths about the changing character of world politics and the psychological basis of national security in a globalized world. It concludes with a critique of the war on terror as currently pursued and a wide-ranging proposal for a strikingly different approach to the challenge of this latest challenge to modernity.

Author Biography

Michael Mazarr is professor if national security strategy at the U.S. National War College in Washington, D.C., and an adjunct professor in the Security Studies Program at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. He holds AB and MA degrees from the University of Maryland’s School of Public Affairs. He has been president of the Henry L. Stimson Center, senior vice president for strategic planning and development at the Electronic Industries Alliance, and legislative assistant for foreign affairs and chief writer in the office of Representative Dave McCurdy. He spent eleven years at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, D.C., first as a researcher and senior fellow in international security studies and later as editor of the Washington Quarterly and director of the New Millennium Project. He has authored ten books, including North Korea and the Bomb (1995) and Global Trends 2005 (1999).