Secular War: Myths of Religion, Politics and Violence

By Stacey Gutkowski

How have long-standing and unconscious secular assumptions about religion shaped the post-9/11 climate and its wars? Stacey Gutkowski explores this little-examined, yet crucial, element of British perceptions of and policy towards Jihadism over the last decade, to draw critical conclusions about the relationship between war and the secular. She points to a surprisingly coherent body of secular beliefs that have fuelled policies in Iraq, Afghanistan and counter-terrorism, and that have had mixed results - responsible for both positive strategies and tragic errors. The theory Gutkowski develops on the impact of this secular approach to warfare holds a broader global significance, and cannot be viewed as just a British phenomenon. This book addresses ongoing and critical debates, such as the 'overreach' of Western liberal interventionism in the Middle East, and speaks to policy-makers, security analysts and students of IR, Foreign Policy and Security Studies.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1780765355
• ISBN13: 9781780765358
• Release Date: July 2013
• Publisher: I. B. Tauris & Company
• Length: 376 Pages
• Weight: 1.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.6" x 5.5" x 8.6"