Anthony Shadid

Global Peace, Security, and Human Rights Lecture Series and UCSB Bookstore present

Anthony Shadid
“Legacy of the Prophet: Despots, Democrats, and the New Politics of Islam"

Thursday, February 8 / 4 P.M. / FREE Corwin Pavilion

Anthony Shadid, “Boston Globe” reporter and longtime Cairo correspondent for the Associated Press will discuss and sign copies of his new book, “Legacy of the Prophet: Despots, Democrats, and the New Politics of Islam,” at 4 P.M. on Thursday, February 8 in the Corwin Pavilion.

Reviews
"From the timeless, ramshackle cafes of Cairo to the sun-baked mud huts of Afghan fighters in the Kush mountains, Anthony Shadid gets under the skin of that phenomenon and cultural identity that continues to elude the West, Islam. With the trained eye and skill of a seasoned reporter and the sensitivity and depth of a scholar analyzing under the surface, Shadid has produced a brilliant and refreshing work. Legacy of the Prophet offers new insights into the roots, social texture and political trends of religion in Islamic societies. The force of faith as an equalizer and an antidote to the inertia of the past and exclusionary politics has never been better explained. A must read for anyone who wants to better understand Islam and its humanity." Nora Boustany, Washington Post

"Anthony Shadid uses his considerable reporting skills and experience to contest the view that political Islam is synonomous with radicalism and violence. He testifies to a fundamental transformation of Islamist politics--the ideological acceptance of democracy by contemporary intellectuals, and the realization of those principles in the organizations and practices of Islamic activists. This compelling book is essential reading for policy-makers, scholars, and all who hope and work for a future of peace and justice in the Middle East." David Waldner, University of Virginia

"Anthony Shadid's brilliantly reported book on contemporary Islam is a successful combination of personal, political, and well-informed styles. In the reductive and bellicose sensationalism that has disfigured the general American awareness of Islam, his work is a stirring exception, of special use to the general as well as the specialized reader." Edward W. Said, Columbia University

The World Trade Center bombing, suicide attacks in Israel, the slaughter of tourists in Egypt and innocents in Algeria. One of the world's great religions, Islam has become identified today with senseless bloodshed, its followers branded as irrational fanatics with a penchant for violence. Ours is the era of the "Islamic threat." But another story remains to be told. Beyond the headlines, a transformation is under way in both the style and message of Islamic politics at the end of the twentieth century: a startling shift from militancy to democracy with vast implications for the West. Drawing on his years of reporting in more than a dozen countries of the Muslim world, Anthony Shadid charts the striking way in which the adolescence of yesterday's Islamic militants is yielding to the maturity of today's activists. Through interview and travelogue, he chronicles a new generation-in Lebanon, Egypt, Turkey and elsewhere-that is finding a more realistic and potentially more successful future through democratic politics. A crucial element of this change, and of Legacy of the Prophet, is his exploration of the failure of militant Islam in countries like Sudan and Iran, defeats that ironically may help make way for an alternative, democratic future. The transformation promises a better future for a region long ruled by soldiers and despots. For the West, it offers a compelling opportunity to find common ground with the Muslim world. But to do so, the book argues that we must make the difficult choice of supporting the emergence of democratic Islamic movements, possibly even allowing to come to power governments that, as it stands, have no love for the West. Legacy of the Prophet promises to redefine the debate over the future of political Islam.

Anthony Shadid was recently Cairo correspondent for the Associated Press and is winner of an Overseas Press Club citation in 1997 for the series of articles that form the core of this book. Formerly the news editor of the AP's Los Angeles Bureau, Shadid begins his work in 2001 as a correspondent in Washington for the Boston Globe.

This event is part of the "Global Peace, Security, and Human Rights" lecture series being sponsored by the UC Institute for Global Conflict and Cooperation, UCSB Arts & Lectures, Global and International Studies Program, Global Peace and Security Program and Interdisciplinary Humanities Center. It is being put on in partnership with the Santa Barbara Committee on Foreign Relations, Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, PAX 2100, International Studies Association at Santa Barbara City College, and the International Studies Program at Ventura College.