Resumo de After Jihad - NOAH FELDMAN

How are Islam and democracy interacting? Can they flourish
together? In After Jihad Noah Feldman considers these questions and
their implications for the foreign policy of the United States. He begins with some
history and a look at general issues, then surveys the situation in a range of
Islamic countries, and finally offers some policy suggestions and exhortations.

Feldman analyses Islam and democracy as mobile ideas ? simple, universal,
flexible ? and argues that some kind of productive synthesis between them is
needed, something that goes beyond individual cosmopolitanism or unbalanced
creolization. He gives a capsule history of modernist and political Islam,
touches on classical Islamic ideas such as shura (consultation), and
considers the range of ways in which a state could be Islamic, from a largely
symbolic framework such as that of the Church of England to attempts to
implement classical Islamic law (or rather some modern interpretation thereof).
Critical issues are likely to be equality of women and liberty under family law
? but here Islam is not necessarily any more of an impediment than Judaism or
Christianity.

Part two is a survey of the status of democracy and political Islam in
predominantly Muslim countries, which range from the relatively robustly
democratic to the autocratic and from theocratic to fiercely secular. Feldman
covers Iran, Turkey, South and Southeast Asia (mostly Indonesia), and Pakistan. He divides the Arab
States into monarchies and dictatorships with and without oil, treating at
greatest length Saudi Arabia,
Jordan and Morocco, Egypt,
and Iraq and Libya. Assuming
no background knowledge, the result is a decent survey pitched at the level of
a quality newspaper.

Perhaps the biggest limitation is that this really only considers state
level politics and ideologies, with just a little discussion of civil society.
There''s almost no ethnographic detail, no probing of the motivations of
individuals or the role of Islam and democracy in local communities. There is
at least as much variation at this level as there is between states, and in the
long-run it may be just as important.

Feldman bring up policy implications throughout After Jihad, but in
part three he turns to direct advocacy. Pragmatic arguments for encouraging
moves to democracy in Islamic countries include the need to head off violent
revolutions and to neutralize the anti-Americanism that comes from supporting
for autocratic governments. There is also the moral argument that supporting
democracy is the right thing to do, even where it might run counter to
real-politik. When it comes to how, Feldman advocates economic
pressure and the targeted use of aid; writing just before the invasion of Iraq, he
accepts that the oil dictatorships may pose a special problem. Islamic organizations
are key parts of civil society and some will be useful allies.

Feldman maintains a positive view throughout After Jihad, but he
doesn''t ignore or downplay problems. While how much we (that is, the United
States) can achieve is unknown, something is clearly possible, whereas if we
assume that Islam and democracy will not prove able to bridge their
differences, the prophecy of failure will be self-fulfilling. In any event,
Feldman will have a chance to put his ideas into practice ? he''s been given a
job helping to produce a new constitution for Iraq.

After Jihad is aimed at an American audience and uses comparisons
and analogies to the United States
and in a few cases to Israel
or Britain.
At one point, for example, Feldman imagines how the Turkish Justice and
Development Party would be constrained by the constitution if it came to power
in the United States.
This may help some see their own systems of government in a new light.
Accessible and informative, After Jihad will certainly help to improve
understanding of Islam and Middle Eastern politics.

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