Evasion and Consequences: An Answer to War on Terror’s Most Urgent Question: Who is the Enemy?

Publication Date: January 2008

Publisher: Hoover Institution on War, Revolution, and Peace; David Horowitz Freedom Center

Author(s): Daniel Pipes

Research Area: International relations; Politics

Keywords: Terrorism; National Security; War on Terror

Type: Report

Coverage: United States

Abstract:

The enemy in the war on terror is Islamism, a radical, utopian version of Islam. Islamists, adherents of this well-funded, widespread, totalitarian ideology, are attempting to create a global Islamic order that fully applies the Islamic law (sharia). With the enemy thus defined, the needed response becomes clear. It is twofold: vanquish Islamism and help Muslims develop an alternative form of Islam. Not coincidentally, this approach roughly parallels what the Allied powers accomplished vis-à-vis the two prior radical utopian movements: fascism and communism.