Since the terrorist attacks of September 11th the topic of Islam's political, cultural, religious, and spiritual tendencies and beliefs has been thrust into the spotlight. However, most discussions concerning Islam's relation to the West tend to simplify and distort the intricate nature of the problem. The essays in Islam and the West approach the interactions of Islam, the West, and modernity through overlapping social, historical, economic, cultural, and philosophical layers. Viewed through this complex prism of analysis, the full dimensions of the relationship become clear. The result is a deeper understanding of the nature of modernity and how other societies can relate to each other in an increasingly complex, globalizing world.

Michael Thompson is the founder and editor of Logos: A Journal of Modern Society and Culture and is assistant professor of political science at William Paterson University in New Jersey.

Chapter 1 IntroductionChapter 2 Muslims and the West: A Paradigm for PolarizationChapter 3 Islam, Modernity and the Dialectic of DogmatismChapter 4 The Deficiency of Democracy in the Islamic WorldChapter 5 The Roots of TerrorChapter 6 Europe in the Mirror of the Contemporary Middle East: Aspects of Modern European History ReconsideredChapter 7 Deconstructing Arab-Islamic History: A Discussion of its Evolutionary DynamicsChapter 8 Critical Theory and the Islamic Encounter with ModernityChapter 9 Second Letter on AlgeriaChapter 10 A Wild Goose Chase: To Cope, Must Islam "Westernize"?