Saudi Arabia and the Politics of Dissent
by Mamoun Fandy

List Price: $35.95
Our Price: $19.99
You Save: $15.96 (44%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $2.99 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions

Book Summary Information

Book Reviews of Saudi Arabia and the Politics of Dissent

Book Review: Great. Accurate. Insightful.
Summary: 5 Stars

Fandy aptly disentangles and eradicates many of the commonly perpetuated myths of Islamic Fundamentalism and the entire "terrorist" movement, now. [For instance, it's said, time and time again -- both explictly and inadvertently -- that a major incentive to terrorists has been grounded in "failed" or "missed" prosperity, when in all reality, the majority of the 9/11 terrorists were from Saudi Arabia, a country inherently overflowing with opulence and prosperity because of its abundance in natural resources: oil.]

The "terrorist" agents of 9/11 were well-educated, well-off young men with full lives ahead of them. The ring leaders of much of contemporary Islamic Fundamentalism are more often than not Western-educated, well-off, seasoned, wealthy men with doctorates.

We're not dealing with a group of scorned poor people. The real driving force behind Islamic Fundamentalism has less to do with money and more to do with morale and issues of cultural validity, not to mention issues of perceived power, and so on...

I can go on and on, but all in all, it was a really good book. Fandy does not -- or at least I don't believe so -- seek out to write a "Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tells Them" book. Not at all...it's much more scholarly, though when he lays down the bare facts...you begin to see how lots of popular political rhetoric is little more than rubbish for the under-educated masses.

History Books

• Nonfiction