Islamism and Its Enemies in the Horn of Africa

Alex de Waal is a director of Justice Africa, a London-based organization that supports human rights, peace, and democracy in Africa. He is author of many books and articles, including Famine Crimes: Politics and the Disaster Relief Industry in Africa (IUP, 1997).

"De Waal, a well-known activist and scholar of human rights in Africa, has put together a detailed, provocative book on the 1989, 2003 period, when Sudan and Somalia served as a laboratory for political Islam. De Waal and Sudanese human rights specialist A. H. Abdel Salam trace the failure and persistence of jihad and specific outcomes in Sudan. They argue that Islamists failed to overcome some major theoretical and practical weaknesses. The Somali civil war receives attention from French scholar Roland Marchal; M. A. Mohamed Salih writes on Islamic NGOs and the Somali civil war. Although Islamists have mounted small-scale projects (local social mobilization has both provided strength and proven adaptability), Islamic civil society as expressed in neo-fundamentalist Islamism is inherently limited, impeding freedom of expression and intellectual creativity. Mental closure, de Waal argues, is not inherent in Islamism itself, however. Muslims must exercise intellectual leadership in order to create a more open society, and external adversaries must allow space for this debate. Readers may disagree with the editor's assertion, The United States is so powerful that it no longer needs to know much about the rest of the world and adapt its power to local realities. Summing Up: Recommended. General readers and undergraduate collections."—C. E. Welch, University at Buffalo, SUNY , Choice, June 2005"De Waal, a well-known activist and scholar of human rights in Africa, has put together a detailed, provocative book on the 1989, 2003 period, when Sudan and Somalia served as a laboratory for political Islam. . . . Recommended. General readers and undergraduate collections.June 2005"—Choice"Essentially, this work . . . is a significant effort that will further our understanding of the mechanisms of change that have been the lot of North East Africa since the twilight of the twentieth century.Vol. 10.1-2 Sp & F 2008"—Amidu Olalekan Sanni, Lagos State University". . . a scholarly and critical analysis of Islamism in Sudan and the Horn of Africa, linking it with its roots in Egypt and unravelling its ideological, sociological and political facets."—Patrick Gilkes, BBC World Service

• 1. Introduction2. On the Failure and Persistence of Jihad A. H. Abdel Salam and Alex de Waal3. Islamism, Jihad, and State Power in Sudan Alex de Waal and A. H. Abdel Salam4. Islamic Dynamics in the Somali Civil War Roland Marchal5. The Promise and Peril of Islamic Voluntarism M. A. Mohamed Salih6. The Politics of Destabilization in the Horn, 1989-2001 Alex de Waal7. Africa, Islamism, and America's "War on Terror" After September 11 Alex de Waal