The New Cold War Religious Nationalism Confronts the Secular State By Mark Juergensmeyer. Berkeley: The University of California Press, 1993, 202 pp.

Abstract

The collapse of the Soviet Union, which resulted in the demise of the
fonner bipolar system in international relations, has led writers to offer
predictions about the future framework of international political relationships.
Francis Fukuyama posits the end of history as a result of the end
of the cold war. Samuel Hlllltington speculates that the post-cold war
world will be divided according to differences in civilizations: a "clash
of civilizations." Unlike Hwttington, Mark Juergensmeyer argues that any
future conflict will have a religious nature. Hwttington predicts that the
struggle will occur on the international level, whereas Juergensmeyer says
it will take place on the nation-state level, for religious nationalism will
challenge the dominant secular ideology that now rules nation-states.
Before proceeding, two important elements asserted by Juergensmeyer
should be kept in mind: the conflict between secular nationalism
and religious nationalism will take place in the Third World and will be
confined to the borders of the nation-state. In other words, Islamic movements
will not be united and their concern will be limited to their respective
cmmtries. Based on these assertions, we can assume that the West
wiH remain secular and unthreatened by religious revolts, and that the
conflict may develop from the national to the international level (i.e.,
between western secular states and nonwestem nation-states dominated
by religious groups).
The book is based on interviews conducted by the author with
leaders of various religious groups and an analysis of their writings. Muslim,
Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, and Jewish movements are studied. In the
first chapter, "The Loss of Faith in Secular Nationalism," the author
examines the emergence of nationalism in the Third World through the
works of Hans Kohn and Donald Smith. The main theme here is the religious
rejection of secular nationalism. He asserts that secular nationalists
are perceived by religious nationalists as partners in a western-led global
conspiracy against religion:
An example occurred in 1991 during the Gulf War: Islamic political
groups in Egypt reversed their initial condemnation of Iraq's
invasion of Kuwait when the United States sent thousands of ...