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Islam, Democracy, and the West
Harper
February 2008
On Sale: February 12, 2008
320 pages ISBN: 0061567582 EAN: 9780061567582 Hardcover
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Non-Fiction Memoir | Non-Fiction Political | Non-Fiction
Benazir Bhutto returned to Pakistan in October 2007, after
eight years of exile, hopeful that she could be a catalyst
for change. Upon a tumultuous reception, she survived a
suicide-bomb attack that killed nearly two hundred of her
countrymen. But she continued to forge ahead, with more
courage and conviction than ever, since she knew that time
was running out—for the future of her nation, and for her life. In Reconciliation, Bhutto recounts in gripping detail her
final months in Pakistan and offers a bold new agenda for
how to stem the tide of Islamic radicalism and to rediscover
the values of tolerance and justice that lie at the heart of
her religion. With extremist Islam on the rise throughout
the world, the peaceful, pluralistic message of Islam has
been exploited and manipulated by fanatics. Bhutto
persuasively argues that America and Britain are fueling
this turn toward radicalization by supporting groups that
serve only short-term interests. She believed that by
enabling dictators, the West was actually contributing to
the frustration and extremism that lead to terrorism. With
her experience governing Pakistan and living and studying in
the West, Benazir Bhutto was versed in the complexities of
the conflict from both sides. She was a renaissance woman
who offered a way out. In this riveting and deeply insightful book, Bhutto explores
the complicated history between the Middle East and the
West. She traces the roots of international terrorism across
the world, including American support for Pakistani general
Zia-ul-Haq, who destroyed political parties, eliminated an
independent judiciary, marginalized NGOs, suspended the
protection of human rights, and aligned Pakistani
intelligence agencies with the most radical elements of the
Afghan mujahideen. She speaks out not just to the West, but
to the Muslims across the globe who are at a crossroads
between the past and the future, between education and
ignorance, between peace and terrorism, and between
dictatorship and democracy. Democracy and Islam are not
incompatible, and the clash between Islam and the West is
not inevitable. Bhutto presents an image of modern Islam
that defies the negative caricatures often seen in the West.
After reading this book, it will become even clearer what
the world has lost by her assassination.
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