Introduction

Abstract

The most recent terrifying month of global history, with the Christchurch Mosque shootings of March 15, 2019, followed by the Sri Lanka Easter Sunday Islamist bombings of April 21, 2019, and the Passover San Diego Synagogue shooting of April 27, 2019 are a part of the never-ending spiral of terrorism which brought a harvest of death also in the year 2019, and are a stark reminder to the scholarly community, governments, security agencies, NGOs and the global public at large to focus on the dynamics of these processes. The introduction to the present book elaborates the background to the study and lists briefly the content of the seven chapters. The Islamist rejection of democracy, their intolerance and rejection of the proverbial other, however, hardly suggests that the Islamist path would lead the Muslim world out of the current morass they find themselves in. The authors argue for a separation between religion and politics where political elites do not seek legitimacy on religious grounds. Political democratization is not possible unless intellectual dissidents are not only protected but also celebrated. Liberalism and political openness, however, will not occur without economic growth. As such business interests need to be accommodated at the political bargaining table and the Muslim world will need to adopt new technologies and invest in human capital and human development whilst creating the conditions for the private sector to thrive.