THE DAILY STAR: BEIRUT: The West has fundamentally misunderstood the meaning and significance of political Islam and the world is "a more dangerous place" as a result, a former broker of unofficial talks between Western powers and groups such as Hamas and Hizbullah said on Friday. Alistair Crooke directs Conflicts Forum, an NGO committed to creating dialogue between Islamist movements and the West. He was speaking to promote his new book, entitled "Resistance: The Essence of the Islamist Revolution."
He said that the West's failure to consider political Islam, particularly Iran's Islamic revolution, as anything more than an attempt to fill a void left by poor economic decisions and the failure of Arab nationalism has led to ineffectual policy toward the Muslim world.
"The rise of Islamism was not just about filling a void. They did not simply rise out of the decline of nationalism and pan-Arabism," he said. Instead, he argued that the phenomenon is a "huge transformative change that is exciting and energizing millions of people." >>> By Andrew Wander, Daily Star staff | Monday, March 23, 2009
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