Political Islam, World Politics and Europe ─ From Jihadist to Institutional Islamism

The new and updated edition of Political Islam, World Politics and Europe focusses on the shift within political Islam, in light of 9/11 and the events of the Arab Spring, from a jihadist struggle, to institutional Islamism.

Refuting what has often been referred to by commentators as the ‘moderation,’ of Islamism, the second edition of this book introduces the concept of ‘institutional,’ Islamism, a process which Tibi argues was accelerated in the aftermath of the Arab Spring. Both jihadist and institutional Islamism pursue the same goal of an Islamist state, but disagree fundamentally on the strategy for achieving it. Whilst jihadism is committed to the idea of a (violent) Islamic world revolution, institutional Islamism embraces political institutions as a means to an end.

Turning to the events of the Arab Spring in Tunisia, Libya and Egypt this book attempts to determine whether an abandonment of violence is enough to underpin a shift to genuine democracy. Analysing the fall of Morsi in particular, Tibi questions what lessons can be learnt from his presidency, and argues that this event will not change the overall trend of development from jihadism to institutional Islamism

A timely addition to existing literature, this book will be of interest to students and scholars studying Middle Eastern and European Politics, Political Islam and International Relations.

Bassam Tibi is a Professor Emeritus of International Relations. Between 1973 and 2009 he taught at the University of Goettingen, and he was A.D. White Professor at Large at Cornell University until 2010. Between 1982 and 2000 Professor Tibi was parallel to Goettingen at Harvard University in a variety of affiliations, the latest of which is the Bosch Fellow of Harvard. His work has been translated into 16 languages, and he has published a great number of books including Islam’s Predicament with Modernity (Routledge, 2009), Islamism and Islam (Yale, 2012) and The Shari'a State (Routledge, 2013). The president of Germany Roman Herzog decorated him in 1995 with the highest Medal/State Decoration for his "bridging between Islam and the West".