The Mind of Jihad October 15, 2008

Host: Hudson Institute. The Mind of Jihad, published by Cambridge University Press, derives from studies originally commissioned by the Department of Defense and published earlier by the Hudson Institute. This recast and augmented volume examines contemporary jihad as a death cult: bloodlust is a shared characteristic of all jihadi groups, author Laurent Murawiec writes, whether Shiite or Sunni, Arab or not.
Murawiec characterizes their belief structure as similar to that of Europe’s medieval millenarians and apocalyptics, arguing that both jihadis and their European cousins shared a Gnostic ideology: a God-given mission endowed the elect with supernatural powers and placed them above the common law of mankind. Although the ideology of jihad is essentially Islamic, Murawiec traces the political technologies used by modern jihad to the Bolsheviks. Their doctrines of terror as a system of rule were appropriated by radical Islam through multiple lines of communication. The Mind of Jihad brings history, anthropology, and theology to bear to understand the mind of jihad that has declared war on the West and the world.

Official Website: http://www.hudson.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=hudson_upcoming_events&id=597