A World Without Islam »

Graham E. Fuller is a former vice chairman of the National Intelligence Council at the CIA, in charge of long-range strategic forecasting. He is an adjunct professor of history at Simon Fraser University and the author of numerous books about the Middle East.

What if Islam never existed? To some, it's a comforting thought: no clash of civilizations, no holy wars, no terrorists.

But what if that weren't the case at all? In A WORLD WITHOUT ISLAM, Graham E. Fuller guides us along an illuminating journey through history, geopolitics, and religion to investigate whether or not Islam is indeed the cause of some of today's most emotional and important international crises. Fuller takes us from the birth of Islam to the fall of Rome to the rise and collapse of the Ottoman Empire. He examines and analyzes the roots of terrorism, the conflict in Israel, and the role of Islam in supporting and energizing the anti-imperial struggle. Provocatively, he finds that contrary to the claims of many politicians, thinkers, theologians, and soldiers, a world without Islam might not look vastly different from what we know today.

Filled with fascinating details and counterintuitive conclusions, A WORLD WITHOUT ISLAM is certain to inspire debate and reshape the way we think about Islam's relationship with the West.

Publishers Weekly

In this wide-ranging historical text, Fuller, former vice chairman of the National Intelligence Council at the CIA, suggests that many of the current tensions that exist between the East and the West have geopolitical rather than religious origins and that these tensions would have arisen in a "world without Islam." The author opens the book with a theological analysis that emphasizes the continuities among the three Abrahamic faiths. He then pivots to an extended history of the Christian world that focuses on the conflict between Latin and Byzantine Europe, pointing out that the schism between them largely motivated the Crusades. The book then covers the relationship of Islam to Russia, India, and China before turning to the Muslim world specifically, surveying its centuries-long decline from a position of cultural, political, and economic dominance. Fuller covers an extraordinary number of subjects lucidly, and whether readers are persuaded by his valorization of geopolitics above religion, he cogently lays out the complex causes of contemporary conflicts and makes bold policy recommendations that move conversations about East-West relations beyond religious and ideological divides. (Aug.)

Introduction 3

PART ONE HERESY AND POWER

One Islam and the Abrahamic Faiths 21

Two Power, Heresy, and the Evolution of Christianity 45

Three Byzantium versus Rome: Warring Christian Polarities 61

Four Islam Meets Eastern Christianity 77

Five The Great Crusades (1095-1272) 95

Six Shared Echoes: The Protestant Reformation and Islam 117

PART TWO MEETING AT THE CIVILIZATIONAL BORDERS OF ISLAM

Seven The "Third Rome" and Russia: Russia Inherits the Orthodox Legacy 147

Eight Russia and Islam: Byzantium Lives! 163

Nine Muslims in the West: Loyal Citizens or Fifth Column? 187

Ten Islam and India 211

Eleven Islam and China 229

PART THREE THE PLACE OF ISLAM IN THE MODERN WORLD

Twelve Colonialism, Nationalism, Islam, and the Independence Struggle 243

Thirteen War, Resistance, Jihad, and Terrorism 267

Fourteen What to Do? Toward a New Policy with the Muslim World 287

Acknowledgments 305

Notes 307

Index 317