CPD Fellow Reza Aslan Publishes New Book on God, Globalization, and the End of the War on Terror

How to Win a Cosmic War: God, Globalization, and the End of Terror, a new book by CPD Fellow, Reza Aslan, will be available from Random House on April 21, 2009.

This publication provides both an in-depth study of the ideology behind al-Qa'ida, the Taliban, and like-minded militants throughout the Muslim world, and an exploration of the tradition of religious violence found in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Surveying the global scene from Israel to Iraq and from New York to the Netherlands, Reza Aslan argues that religion is a stronger force today than it has been in a century. At a time when religion and politics are increasingly sharing the same vocabulary and functioning in the same sphere, Aslan writes that we must strip this ideological conflict of its religious connotations and address the actual grievances that fuel the Jihadist movement.

In No God But God: The Origins, Evolution, And Future Of Islam, award-winning author and scholar of religions Aslan challenged the "clash of civilizations" mentality that has distorted our view of Islam. Aslan now takes this argument one step further calling for the new American Administration to put an end to the War on Terror, and instead focus its efforts not only on defeating al-Qaeda militants, but also on confronting the global social movement behind al-Qaeda—a movement properly termed Jihadism. According to Aslan, the conflict against Jihadism is taking place not in the streets of Baghdad or in the mountains of Afghanistan but in the suburbs of Paris, the slums of East London, and the cosmopolitan cities of Berlin, Amsterdam, and New York. This is an ideological battle that must be waged not against men with guns but against boys with computers, a battle that can be won not with bullets and bombs but with words and ideas.

To purchase How to Win a Cosmic War, click here.

Praise for Reza Aslan’s How to Win A Cosmic War:

“An eloquent plea for defanging terrorism with rights for Muslims, both in the West and the Middle East... Even readers who believe a fight with terror requires throwing some military punches will learn from Aslan’s endorsement of soft-power approaches.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Aslan makes the case that War on Terror is an unwinnable one exactly because it is the wrong war to fight. A war between religions, a battle between good and evil, “A cosmic war,” fails to address the underlying social and political roots of conflict and terror. For people of faith and all those concerned with peace in our world, Aslan’s exacting prose and depth of discernment create an enticing and necessary read.” —Jim Wallis, author of The Great Awakening

"In this provocative and engaging book, Reza Aslan shows why he is one of America's leading analysts of the confusing and frightening forces that confront us. It is Aslan's great gift to see things clearly, and to say them clearly, and in this important new work he offers us a way forward."

—Jon Meacham, author of American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House

"[How to Win a Cosmic War] reaches across a world chasm that too many regard as unbridgeable – with balance, eloquence, and rare wisdom."

—James Carroll, Author of Constantine's Sword and Practicing Catholic

“‘Terror’ is never going to show up with a pen to sign a peace treaty ending the "War on Terror." The use of that phrase has created a black hole into which serious talk about serious topics—including, by all means, Islam but also Christianity and Judaism--has disappeared. Reza Aslan's elegant, incisive book breaks the spell cast by "the emperor's new talk" and signals that the conversation the world has been waiting for may at last be about to begin.”

—Jack Miles, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of God: A Biography

“How To Win A Cosmic War hovers confidently over a vast historical terrain, landing where it must to explore how common and terrible apocalyptic thinking is—how it plagues every religious tradition, every inspired nationalism, and cannot be defeated with brute force, upon which it thrives. A unique primer for pragmatic leaders whose patient enlightenment is the real antidote to terror.”

—Bernard Avishai, author of The Hebrew Republic and The Tragedy of Zionism