The Taliban

Paper Summary:

This paper contends that Peter Marsden successfully brings several muddled issues into focus in his book, "The Taliban: War, Religion and the New World Order in Afghanistan". The paper claims that the author neither demonizes nor glorifies the Taliban in his constructive and scholarly overview of the movement. The paper discusses the book and considers it a useful starting point for a fruitful investigation of the Taliban, in particular, and radical Islam in general. The theme and tone of Marsden's book are diplomatic, and thus the book also allows students of international relations to grasp the objective and unbiased perspectives necessary to approach complex global issues. The Taliban, in fact, provide a prime example of the difficulties in forging dialogue between divergent cultures.

From the Paper:

"One of the main strengths of Marsden's book is his dedication to framing the Taliban within a broader historical, cultural, and religious framework. In addition to offering the background historical information in the early chapters of the book, describing how the Taliban eventually were able to take power in Kabul, the author also includes an outline of early and convergent Islamic movements in Chapter Six. Marsden compares and contrasts these movements, taking care to respect the specific ethnic and cultural traditions that support them. While Marsden does not treat Islam as a homogenous religious force, he does note the inevitable similarities between Islamic movements, especially as they draw upon religious scripture as the source for political policy. Indeed, one of the main difficulties in forming dialogue with radical Islamic movements is that those movements are informed directly by religion, whereas in European and North American secular societies, religion and politics inhabit separate spheres. Great difficulties arise when the religiously-grounded politics of the Taliban conflict with the secular morals and ethics of other cultures around the world."

More papers on The Taliban:

• Essay # 70124 : "History of the Taliban"
• Research Paper # 32842 : "Afghanistan and The Taliban"
• Term Paper # 112566 : "The Taliban in Pakistan"

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