New Books in Middle Eastern Studies

Samuel Helfont, “Compulsion in Religion: Saddam Hussein, Islam and the Roots of Insurgencies in Iraq” (Oxford UP, 2018)


Listen Later

Samuel Helfont‘s Compulsion in Religion: Saddam Hussein, Islam and the Roots of Insurgencies in Iraq (Oxford University Press, 2018) makes an invaluable contribution to an understanding of Iraqi strongman’s Saddam Hussein harnessing of Islam in support of his Baathist regime and ideology and to ensure that Islam as a social institution is incapable of turning against him. In doing so, Helfont also contributes to the understanding of the dynamics of religious legitimization of autocratic and illiberal regimes that is at the core of struggles in countries like Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. Helfont’s well-written, easily accessible book benefits from access to documents of Saddam Hussein’s government and Baath Party that were captured by US and opposition forces in the wake of the 2003 US invasion and have been unavailable until recently. Helfont also positions religion as a social force that represents both an opportunity and an asset to autocratic leaders who on the one hand garner legitimacy by identification with the faith but also need to ensure that it does not emerge as the motor of opposition or resistance. Helfont further demonstrates that in contrast to the immense infrastructure that Saddam rolled out to bend Islam to his will and interpretation, US forces underestimated the degree of social control that he exerted and lacked the institutional and intelligence capacity to manage religious sentiment in the wake of his overthrow. The breakdown in social control explains, at least in part, the religious insurgencies the US confronted in Iraq since 2003. With his analysis of the management of religion by Saddam and the breakdown after his fall, Helfont has made an important contribution to the study of Iraq.

James M. Dorsey is a senior fellow at Singapore’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/middle-eastern-studies

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

New Books in Middle Eastern StudiesBy Marshall Poe

  • 4.3
  • 4.3
  • 4.3
  • 4.3
  • 4.3

4.3

30 ratings


More shows like New Books in Middle Eastern Studies

View all
Thinking Allowed by BBC Radio 4

Thinking Allowed

308 Listeners

New Books in History by Marshall Poe

New Books in History

209 Listeners

New Books in Psychoanalysis by Marshall Poe

New Books in Psychoanalysis

193 Listeners

New Books in Military History by Marshall Poe

New Books in Military History

162 Listeners

New Books in Islamic Studies by Marshall Poe

New Books in Islamic Studies

30 Listeners

New Books in Economics by Marshall Poe

New Books in Economics

26 Listeners

New Books in African American Studies by New Books Network

New Books in African American Studies

161 Listeners

New Books in Anthropology by New Books Network

New Books in Anthropology

49 Listeners

New Books in Environmental Studies by Marshall Poe

New Books in Environmental Studies

18 Listeners

New Books in Political Science by New Books Network

New Books in Political Science

63 Listeners

New Books in Philosophy by New Books Network

New Books in Philosophy

110 Listeners

New Books in Native American Studies by Marshall Poe

New Books in Native American Studies

104 Listeners

The LRB Podcast by The London Review of Books

The LRB Podcast

293 Listeners

New Books in Critical Theory by Marshall Poe

New Books in Critical Theory

143 Listeners

Jacobin Radio by Jacobin

Jacobin Radio

1,424 Listeners

Foreign Policy Live by Foreign Policy

Foreign Policy Live

599 Listeners

The Dig by Daniel Denvir

The Dig

1,543 Listeners

Power Play by POLITICO

Power Play

964 Listeners

Politics Theory Other by Politics Theory Other

Politics Theory Other

154 Listeners

Haaretz Podcast by Haaretz

Haaretz Podcast

289 Listeners

Know Your Enemy by Matthew Sitman

Know Your Enemy

1,940 Listeners

Babel: Translating the Middle East by Center for Strategic and International Studies

Babel: Translating the Middle East

90 Listeners

On the Nose by Jewish Currents

On the Nose

232 Listeners

Ones and Tooze by Foreign  Policy

Ones and Tooze

346 Listeners