Bøger af Jean-Pierre Filiu

The Middle East, often referred to as the cradle of the three monotheisms, is saturated with symbolism. Situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa and Europe, it is a land marked by the rich confluence of religions and peoples. At the same time, it has been the focal point of endemic tensions and conflicts, many of which stretch back into the mists of time.In this new history of the Middle East, Jean-Pierre Filiu looks beyond religion and focuses his attention on the processes by which powers and their areas of domination were established over time. His starting point is 395 AD, the year when the Roman Empire was divided into eastern and western halves: at that point, the Middle East emerged as a specific entity, freed from external domination, and a Christianity of the East asserted itself, turned towards Byzantium rather than towards Rome. From this point on, Filiu follows a strictly Middle Eastern dynamics, tracing the rise and fall of powers linked to the three principal poles of Egypt, Syria and Iraq and recounting the procession of empires, invasions and assertions of imperialist ambition that have characterized the region since then. The book closes in 2022, when the men and women of the Middle East are still struggling for the right to define their destiny by telling their stories in their own voices.This magisterial and up-to-date history of the Middle East will be essential reading for students and scholars of history and politics and for anyone interested in history of one of the most important and contested regions of the modern world.

The Arab revolutions that began in Tunisia in early 2011 spread like wildfire through the region, shocking observers across the world who had thought that Arab societies were incapable of turning on their repressive regimes. As Jean-Piere Filiu shows in his concise yet sweeping account of the revolution's pivotal first stage, the revolts that began in Tunis and continue today in Syria have exposed the fallacy of Western pronouncements about Islamic societies' inability to incubate modern democratic movements. Stressing the deep historical roots of the events and organizing the book around 'ten lessons, ' Filiu's authoritative command of the events in all their diversity shines through. Facebook-savvy youth from the urban middle class proved central in the relatively leaderless movement that drove events in Egypt, but disenfranchised youths from the wrong side of the tracks spearheaded the Tunisian revolution. Regardless of who led the revolution, ruling regimes that have managed to survive are attempting to adapt, whether through carrots or sticks. As we move forward, one of the most intriguing issues is the role that political Islam, particularly in the form of the Muslim Brotherhood, will play in evolving Arab societies. Will they embrace democracy and higher levels of tolerance, following a Turkish model? Recent events in Egypt suggest that this may be indeed be the case, which will undercut much of what Western commentators have said about the movement for decades. Interestingly, the main losers could well be the jihadi groups whose discourse and violence have been invalidated by the mass protests and their pluralist agendas. Regardless, even though the situation is still volatile, nothing will be the same again in the Arab world. Filiu's taut account of this major revolutionary movement points to what else might change, and at what cost.

Details the rise of ISIS, which developed as autocrats in the Middle East sought to undermine the Arab Spring.

An exploration of a troubling phenomenon: the fast-growing belief in Muslim countries that the end of the world is at hand - and with it the "Great Battle," prophesied by both Sunni and Shi'i tradition, which many believers expect will begin in the Afghan-Pakistani borderlands. It uncovers the role of apocalypse in Islam over the centuries.