Conflicts In The Crisis Of Islam By Bernard Lewis

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The main goal is to explain the reasons for the current tension between Islam and the West. In his book, The Crisis of Islam, Bernard Lewis presents a balanced view of Islam. The book provides a large amount of information on the history of Islam and explains the reasons for the problems America has with Islam. Anyone seeking a balanced book to provide them with information on Islamic societies will almost certainly find this book to be highly enjoyable and very informative. The main arguments in the book are that the tension between Islam and the West is caused partially by the continued advantage of the West, that the Islamic states in the 20th century had a hypocritical foreign policy, and that suicide bombing is against the teaching of…show more content…
He points out that in the Middle East after World War II “the Soviets were held back. Thanks largely to American support.” Despite this the Arabs still favored the Russians over the Americans. When the Russians invaded the Muslim country of Afghanistan the Muslim world did little and left the United States to shoulder the burden of providing aid against the Russians. Far from seeing the United States as an ally most Islamic leaders see the United States as a threat. Bernard points out that this is because the United States is seen as “the Great Satan” because the Muslims see it as “a seducer” which is how Satan is depicted in the Quran. However, a point that Bernard doesn’t make is that it is because of this that Islamic countries often support the Soviet Union over the United States. A communist government has little or no appeal to most Muslims, but the American way of life is appealing to many which is why Islamic radicals see it as a threat. Bernard also doesn’t seem to realize that the Islamic countries of the Middle East had no obligation to be America’s friends or to oppose the Soviet Union. Also the United States decision to contain the Soviet Union was done because they believed that it was in the best interest of the United States not out of a sense of altruism towards

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