Demonizing The West


Book Description

This Book. The image of the West in contemporary Arab culture is distorted and devoid of friendliness because those who painted this image lacked free and independent thinking away from dogma or the influence of the old dominant powers in the Arab region. It is difficult to separate anti-west and anti-Jews. Hence, Jews occupy a large portion of this book, since it is the easiest and quickest way to demonize the West. The book reviews the most prominent names that contributed to “Demonizing the West” within the Arab East, over an entire century. The list includes the names of writers, poets, translators, singers, and actors in theatre and cinema. They reflect the level of thinking of the broad masses to this day. One thing in common among these names is that they all conform and strengthen what already exists. They reflect the level of thinking of the broad masses. There is no one among them who thinks alone. If one of them wants to say something, he waits to hear it from millions before him. Here lie the biggest challenges facing Arab culture. The book discusses a large number of anti-West, Jews, and Arab rulers texts. Furthermore the book discusses films, songs, and television series. The book includes seven studies on the challenges facing Arab culture.




Islamophobia and the West


Book Description

This book provides an engaging and insightful look into the definitions, discourse and experiences of Islamophobia and its steady rise since 9/11. It analyses concepts and binaries that are drawn around discussions on civilization, religious dogma, violence, and race. Is there a link between Islam and violence? Why does the West feel threatened by it? The author critically examines these questions and the birth of hate politics which packages hate in a marketable format and often demonizes victims. It also looks at the role of the media in the West in perpetuating stereotypes and its consequences and the nature of war reportage in Islamic countries while deconstructing the narrative of the clash of civilizations. Topical and lucid, this book is a must-read for students and scholars of sociology, international relations, peace and conflict studies, political science, Islamic studies and for other readers interested in these topics.




Imperial Hubris


Book Description

Though U.S. leaders try to convince the world of their success in fighting al Qaeda, one anonymous member of the U.S. intelligence community would like to inform the public that we are, in fact, losing the war on terror. Further, until U.S. leaders recognize the errant path they have irresponsibly chosen, he says, our enemies will only grow stronger. According to the author, the greatest danger for Americans confronting the Islamist threat is to believe-at the urging of U.S. leaders-that Muslims attack us for what we are and what we think rather than for what we do. Blustering political rhetor.




Manufacturing Hate


Book Description

"The book takes the reader on a sweeping journey, critiquing the so-called "journals" of the European trespassers who traveled to Africa beginning in the 17th century to "discover" and arrogantly rename lakes, rivers, mountains, and even countries that already had African names. The early European travelers were agents of imperialism. They mapped out Africa for later colonial conquest. Their "journals" demonized Africans in order to justify conquest, colonization, and exploitation of Africa--the people and the resources--under the false narrative of "civilizing" Africa. This "civilizing" mission was carried out by genocidal killings. An estimated 10 million Africans perished in Congo alone while King Leopold II of Belgium enriched himself by plundering the resources. The book critiques dozens of articles, dating from decades ago, in publications such as The New York Times, National Geographic magazine, Time magazine, and The New Yorker. It shows how these media outlets inherited their racist depictions of Africa from the European travelers' "journals." The book analyzes letters exchanged by New York Times reporters sent to Africa beginning in the 1950s and a long-serving foreign news editor. These letters, unearthed from the Times' archives during the author's research, document the racist animus toward Africa harbored by the Times foreign news editor and some of his reporters. The Times even fabricated incidents that never occurred in Africa in order to depict the continent as "backward." The book will enlighten any reader who wants to know how Africa, and African descendants, became the "other" in Western media."--The back cover




What Do Men Want?


Book Description

From the acclaimed philosopher and author of One-Dimensional Woman, a bold, playful and open-minded exploration of the role of men in the twenty-first century Something is definitely up with men. From millions online who engage with the manosphere to the #metoo backlash, from Men's Rights activists and incels to spiralling suicide rates, it's easy to see that, while men still rule the world, masculinity is in crisis. How can men and women live together in a world where capitalism and consumerism has replaced the values - family, religion, service and honour - that used to give our lives meaning? Feminism has gone some way towards dismantling the patriarchy, but how can we hold on to the best aspects of our metaphorical Father? With illuminating writing from an original, big-picture perspective, Nina Power unlocks the secrets hidden in our culture to enable men and women to practice playfulness and forgiveness, and reach a true mutual understanding and a lifetime of love.




Why the West Can't Win


Book Description

Geopolitical upheaval has gripped the world since collapse of the Soviet Union. During the 1990s the West focused on eliminating the resurgence of Russia as a great power. This led to the assimilation of Warsaw Pact countries into NATO, two Chechen wars, and political systems in the Central Asian republics aligned with the West. Russia’s economic destruction was managed by the Harvard boys‘ shock therapy, which left Russian resources in the control of a few oligarchs aligned with the West. By the end of the 1990s Russia was a weak, bankrupt country of marginalized influence in the world. Then the West’s focus turned to China as a potential challenger to western global hegemony. It was thought to suffice to control global energy resources and sea-lanes to China to prevent China from challenging western global hegemony. Hence the first two decades of the millennium were focused on controlling West Asia and North Africa‘s energy resources. For most, the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 signaled the victory of the self-denominated Free World. Why the West Can’t Win, however, addresses how events in the three following decades signal the end of a millennium of West European expansionism, a plundering and oppression initially labeled Crusades when the popes embodied political power, morphing into colonialism, then to the Free World when colonialism went out of fashion post-World War II, and at last to the “International Community” after the collapse of the Soviet Union. This book’s geopolitical analysis includes a historical overview, an understanding of the financial systems established at the Bretton Woods conference that continue dominating the global economy, how they are used as a powerful geopolitical instrument, an economic analysis based on real goods production, global energy dynamics, alliances and strategies of key global players. It addresses the emerging division of the world into two geopolitical groups: Western Europe, North America, Australia, New Zealand and Africa, Asia and Latin America. The current global geopolitical clash is in essence a struggle between the colonial powers wishing to preserve the Bretton Woods system that allows siphoning wealth of nations, and sovereign nations striving for independence and an end to a millennium of oppression. This work compares the geopolitical forces since the turn of the millennium with a view to providing insight into their relative strengths and the likely outcome of this strugg




Demonizing the Other


Book Description

At the close of the twentieth century the stereotyping and demonization of 'others', whether on religious, nationalist, racist, or political grounds, has become a burning issue. Yet comparatively little attention has been paid to how and why we fabricate images of the 'other' as an enemy or 'demon' to be destroyed. This innovative book fills that gap through an interdisciplinary, cross-cultural approach that brings together a distinguished array of historians, anthropologists, psychologists, literary critics, and feminists. The historical sweep covers Greco-Roman Antiquity, the MIddle Ages, and the MOdern Era. Antisemitism receives special attention because of its longevity and centrality to the Holocaust, but it is analyzed here within the much broader framework of racism and xenophobia. The plurality of viewpoints expressed in this volume provide fascinating insights into what is common and what is unique to the many varieties of prejudice, stereotyping, demonization, and hatred.




International Perspectives on Rethinking Evil in Film and Television


Book Description

Aestheticization of evil is a frequently used formula in cinema and television. However, the representation of evil as an aesthetic object pushes it out of morality. Moral judgments can be pushed aside when evil is aestheticized in movies or TV series because there is no real victim. Thus, situations such as murder or war can become a source of aesthetic pleasure. Narratives in cinema and television can sometimes be based on a simple good-evil dichotomy and sometimes they can be based on individual or social experiences of evil and follow a more complicated method. Despite the various ways evil is depicted, it is a moral framework in film and television that must be researched to study the implications of aestheticized evil on human nature and society. International Perspectives on Rethinking Evil in Film and Television examines the changing representations of evil on screen in the context of the commonness, normalization, aestheticization, marginalization, legitimization, or popularity of evil. The chapters provide an international perspective of the representations of evil through an exploration of the evil tales or villains in cinema and television. Through looking at these programs, this book highlights topics such as the philosophy of good and evil, the portrayal of heroes and villains, the appeal of evil, and evil’s correspondence with gender and violence. This book is ideal for sociologists, professionals, researchers and students working or studying in the field of cinema and television and practitioners, academicians, and anyone interested in the portrayal and aestheticization of evil in international film and television.




The Problem of Evil in the Western Tradition


Book Description

The question of evil presents a profound challenge to humanity—why do we do what we know to be wrong? This is especially a challenge to religious believers. Why doesn't an all-good and omnipotent God step in and put an end to evil? The Problem of Evil in the Western Tradition examines how Western thinkers have dealt with the problem of evil, starting in ancient Israel and tracing the question through post-biblical Judaism, Early Christianity (especially in Africa), the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the Reformation, the Enlightenment, and to the twenty-first century when science has raised new and important issues. Joseph Kelly covers the book of Job, the book of Revelation, Augustine of Hippo, Aquinas, Luther, Marlow, Milton, Voltaire, Hume, Mary Shelley, Darwin, Jung, Flannery O'Connor, Karl Rahner, Teilhard de Chardin, and modern geneticists. Chapters are "Some Perspectives on Evil," "Israel and Evil," "The New Adam," "Out of Africa," "The Broken Cosmos," "The Middle Ages," "Decline and Reform of Humanism," "The Devil's Last Stand," "Rationalizing Evil," "The Attack on Christianity," "Dissident Voices," "Human Evil in the Nineteenth Century," "Science, Evil, and Original Sin," "Modern Literary Approaches to Evil," "Some Scientific Theories of Evil," and "Modern Religious Approaches to Evil." Joseph F. Kelly, Ph.D., is professor of religious studies at John Carroll University in Cleveland, Ohio. He is the author of The World of the Early Christians, published by The Liturgical Press.




War with Russia?


Book Description

Is America in a new Cold War with Russia? How does a new Cold War affect the safety and security of the United States? Does Vladimir Putin really want to destabilize the West? What should Donald Trump and America’s allies do? America is in a new Cold War with Russia even more dangerous than the one the world barely survived in the twentieth century. The Soviet Union is gone, but the two nuclear superpowers are again locked in political and military confrontations, now from Ukraine to Syria. All of this is exacerbated by Washington’s war-like demonizing of the Kremlin leadership and by Russiagate’s unprecedented allegations. US mainstream media accounts are highly selective and seriously misleading. American “disinformation,” not only Russian, is a growing peril. In War With Russia?, Stephen F. Cohen—the widely acclaimed historian of Soviet and post-Soviet Russia—gives readers a very different, dissenting narrative of this more dangerous new Cold War from its origins in the 1990s, the actual role of Vladimir Putin, and the 2014 Ukrainian crisis to Donald Trump’s election and today’s unprecedented Russiagate allegations. Topics include: Distorting Russia US Follies and Media Malpractices 2016 The Obama Administration Escalates Military Confrontation With Russia Was Putin’s Syria Withdrawal Really A “Surprise”? Trump vs. Triumphalism Has Washington Gone Rogue? Blaming Brexit on Putin and Voters Washington Warmongers, Moscow Prepares Trump Could End the New Cold War The Real Enemies of US Security Kremlin-Baiting President Trump Neo-McCarthyism Is Now Politically Correct Terrorism and Russiagate Cold-War News Not “Fit to Print” Has NATO Expansion Made Anyone Safer? Why Russians Think America Is Attacking Them How Washington Provoked—and Perhaps Lost—a New Nuclear-Arms Race Russia Endorses Putin, The US and UK Condemn Him (Again) Russophobia Sanction Mania Cohen’s views have made him, it is said, “America’s most controversial Russia expert.” Some say this to denounce him, others to laud him as a bold, highly informed critic of US policies and the dangers they have helped to create. War With Russia? gives readers a chance to decide for themselves who is right: are we living, as Cohen argues, in a time of unprecedented perils at home and abroad?