I have spoken to Mr. Phares, calling him up and congratulating him because I was so taken with this book. It is informative, incisive and intelligent. I believe that it is a MUST READ for every American, every human being, to understand the real threat of radical Islam in the world.

An in depth analysis of Radical Islam and its impact on the future of democracy in the west. The author rambles a little and repeatedly emphasises points, but the content is solid and the analyses are good.

This was the first book that I read on Jihadism and its threat to America. I was concerned that I would encounter a book advocating hatred toward Muslims - those with similar fears need not be concerned. I found this to be a well-written, easily read book that can be understood by people who, like me, are beginners on this topic.
Provides an outstanding history of jihadism and the reasons jihadist believe as they do. The recommendations for ways to counter this threat are thought provoking and need to be discussed and implemented if deemed appropriate.
You will find yourself talking and thinking about the arguments Mr. Phares presents long after you finish the book - Highly recommend.

Its a must to read for any interesting in the topic wether in academia or goverments. Might become a historical outlook required in training officers to deal with contemporary threats.

Read on... This is a must for anyone who wants to see how they are destroying us, and what they intend. It is an absolute must for every American, Canadian, European, Latino.... this is a war of culture, religion, and people versus people. We are in the last stage of war, where one people rise up against another irrespective of nation, politics, philosophy, resources or technology. It is an all out war to the death of one, or the other. There is no compromise, there is no middle ground, there is no peace. There is only death or surrender.

This book is a must read for anyone who is a true student of counterterrorism studies. Well writen, a real eye opener!

The book provides historical prospective and covers current Jihad plans and tactics. It is a read that all Americans should read to understand our current Terrorist situation and challenge. I highly recommend it for all Americans, especially our elected officials who are invovled in protecting American.

Lecturing and writing about world jihad in the 1990s when hardly anyone was listening, Walid Phares, who hails from Lebanon and who fled the violence and found exile in the United States in 1990, has written the essential primer in order for America, and the Western free world, to repel global jihad. He shows with mastery that jihad is not some recent crackpot idea that Osama Bin Laden cooked up in the last decade or so. To the contrary, jihad is part of a master plan that was set into motion when the Islamacists conquered the Medina back in the Eighth Century. Phares goes into the mind of the jihadist and shows how his jihad, currently sponsored by Saudi-funded Wahabism, is a long-term goal, namely, to make the entire world beholden to strict Muslim Law, Sharia. The tenacity and Machiavellian techniques employed are blood-curdling. After analyzing the jihadi master plan, Phares explains America's denial and complacency, characteristics that will result in our demise if we don't wake up soon. This book is that wakeup call. It is the definitive primer to dealing with global jihad and mates perfectly with the narrative of 9/11, Lawrence Wright's masterpiece The Looming Tower.

Not a difficult read...yet puts together in historical context the development of the different lines of Islam, their internecine conflicts, leading to the state of Jihad today and for the future.

If you ever wondered how the Grand Mufti could have become an SS General in Berlin, or how "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" has led to chaos in the modern world, this book will make sense to you. It will help you understand what world Jihad is all about, and why a united Muslim front is difficult to obtain.

Most highly recommended for serious student of modern geopolitics!

This is an excellent review of the philosophy and intent of Jihad. It does much to place what are often perceived to be disconnected events into the proper context. Many Americans and Western Europeans are unaware of the threat posed by persistent jihad. The author sometimes appears to me to overestimate their capability, but he is spot on about their intent. Well worth taking the time to read.

Phares outlines the threat to peace in the Middle East and the West from the triad of offensive minded Middle Eastern antagonists: Shiite extremists centered in Iran, depsotic Baathists, and Wahabi extremists (Sunni).

Importantly, he outlines their intentions in the USA - notably the potential to launch a devastating attack on all vital sectors of American society.

Phares presents arguments that show Islamist sympathizers in the USA can plan and execute their bad intentions without threat of law enforcement intervention since 90% of what is required before an attack is legal!

Short and concise, however Phares does get a little theaterical when he frequently compares Islamic extremism and its hold on many citizens in the Middle East as a sort of "Ring of Power" similar to that wielded by Sauron of Middle Earth.

Interesting analogy, but not of value empirically.

The author wakes us up to the fact that Wahhabi influence originating from Saudi Arabia has penetrated America at many different levels but he never looks up to cast his expert gaze at the top. Why does he not write about potential influence of Wahhabi's on the White House itself? Why does he have a blind spot at the highest level? Prince Bandar is not even in the index! I give Walid Phares four stars for what is written but I have to subtract one star for what is not written.

It is quite frankly amazing, if not dangerously exasperating, how little critical discussion and exposition there is on the nature of the enemy that struck us in 9/11 and whom we face today in the war on terror and in the fighting in Iraq. And one does not need to be an expert on Sun Tzu to realize that lacking knowledge of your enemy is a surefire path to strategic defeat. Walid Phares' book is a splash of brilliant light on who it is we are fighting, what goals they strive to, and what their strategies are. This book deserves as wide an audience as possible in the American, and generally the Western, citizenship so that our democratic nation may be able to steer a proper course towards defeating decisively those who attacked on 9/11.

The enemy is clearly defined as Islamic Jihadists intent on restoring the Caliphate that Mohammed started and remained in one form or another until the collapse of the Ottoman empire after WWI. They have been present in the world since the 1920's but became particularly radicalized and dangerous in the '90's as a result of the Afghanistan campaign. The author lays out the composition of the Jihadist groups, and each's modus operandi and specific objectives. There are generally three main types, those inspired by Muslim Brotherhood, the Wahabis -both of which are Sunni Salafi- and Khumenists whom are Iranian Shias. While the Salafists and Shia will certainly not agree on the makeup of a caliphate, both know they are far away enough from its potential establishment at this moment to realize that there is strategic opportunity in cooperating against common enemies, namely the rest of the world. Al-Qaeda is but one of the major Jihadists groups, -albeit the most important- a particularly radical off-shoot of Saudi driven Wahabism the author identifies as Neo-Wahabis, who do not wait for the clerics of the Caliphate-to-be to sanction and direct their actions. Al-Qaeda believes it destroyed the Soviet Union, removing the primary enemy of a future Islamic Empire first, and believe that they can destroy America and the West next.

The Jihadists wage as many multi-faceted engagements as they have different sects, including Hezbollah and Hamas against Israel, the northern Sudanese against black Christians in Darfur, and Islamic Jihadist fighters in Iraq, Chechnya, Kashmir, and the Balkans. Although they literally have medieval aims in reinstating a Taliban like, strict Sharia law ruled Caliphate as directed by Allah via his Prophet Mohammed, the Jihadists tactics and strategies are modern, cunning, sophisticated, broad reaching, and extremely dangerous. They are equal parts patient, ruthless, and intelligent. They understand the geopolitics of the world and the makeup of western societies, and are playing their future enemies off their current enemies the same way they accepted American support in fighting the Soviets in Afghanistan, even though they knew full well at the time America would be their next target. Taking advantage of the openness of western societies they actively try to infiltrate our security forces and academia, and have been particularly successful at influencing the latter through Saudi Wahabi funding and takeover of Middle Eastern studies programs at universities. This Wahabi influence over college middle eastern studies goes a long way in explaining why America was so intellectually unprepared for 9/11, and why, to this day, we know so little of our enemy: the apologists have been put in the position of warning and advising our students and our leaders about the nautre of the middle east. The Jihadists also seek to crumble America from the inside, and work with both the extreme left and extreme right to try to sow the seeds of strife, from government collapse to racial warfare.

There are only two major critiques of the book. First is that the war in Iraq makes little appearance. The author lays out the reasons why Iraq is such a difficult war zone, and why we must win in Iraq, but could have spent a lot more time explaining how to win, and what exactly victory would entail and look like in Iraq. The second is that sometimes the writing is a little opaque, and I found myself having to read a sentence two or three times before I figured out what it's import was. But since nearly every sentence had some insight or detail of good value this was only a minor nuisance and always a worthwhile exercise.

The information in this book is vital to determining not only America's and the West's future, but to the Middle East's as well. Everyone should read this book and it is highly recommended!

This book should be read to understand the fringe fanatical movement in the Muslim world, remembering that narrow fanatics in the name of any religion misrepresent their religion and their bad behavior establishes a misdirected reputation.

This is the first book I've read in an attempt to understand what in the heck is going on with the "Islamists". This book offers a chilling view of what will happen to free people if we don't educate ourselves and react accordingly. I'll read other books. I hope Mr. Phares is wrong. If he isn't, we need to pull our heads out of the sand and get busy.

Walid Phares does an outstanding job of discussing the Jihadist threat facing America. He ties together the attack on 9/11 and all other aspects of the current War on Terror. He does this through insight into the Jihadist penetration of America's academic community. The truly impressive part of this book is that Mr. Phares proves his point in a well supported, academic manner. This book is not a right wing publication designed to generate fear. It is a well-written and thoroughly supported piece of research.

The book is easy to read and flows in a logical progression. Mr. Phares discusses several complex topics. Each chapter, however, is broken down by distinct sub-headings. In this manner, the author is able to take complicated issues and break them into easy to understand parts. For example, he discusses the use of Saudi petro dollars to influence academia. He follows this progression to discuss how academia influences the media, which influences the public, which then influences the Government. The ultimate goal is to generate favorable U.S. policies toward Wahabism.

The 9/11 Commission said the attack on America was a failure of imagination. Mr. Phares, however, offers a different opinion as to why the Government failed to prevent this attack on America. He puts forward the thesis that America was blinded to the threat of Jihad by elitists and apologists in the academic community. He goes on to point out a fact that is intrinsically obvious to everyone. Numerous articles describe Jihad as an internal struggle for peace, as if it were a form of yoga. The more relevant fact is what do the Arab teenagers think about Jihad. The evening news does a good job of illustrating that most of the young Muslims of the Middle East interpret Jihad to mean the killing an infidel. A point that is often over looked.

The book is full of information other than what is described in this review. Mr. Phares goes on to discuss the other strains of Jihadism found in the Muslim Brotherhood and Iran's Khumeinists. The paperback editions of this book carry bonus material in the form of its Afterward. This part takes the reader through an analysis of 2006, one-year after the book's initial publication. A relevant point is that all of his points are backed up with endnotes.

Ultimately, Mr. Phares feels that America must win the war of ideas if it is to beat the Jihadist threat. Several military books discuss the concept of information warfare. This book provides a non-military assessment that reinforces this concept. Bottom line: this book is a well-documented and easy to read analysis of the threat facing America today.

Well written and an easy read delivering a clear and concise explanation of who our enemy is and why they are the biggest threat facing America since the fall of Facism.

Very brave and very important. The fact that it is not a bestseller is terrifying testament to the fact that the West must have a collective death wish.

Americans need to be better educated about the very real danger of terrorist threats and planning against the United States. Walid Phares's book should be used as a text book in American High Schools, and every one should read it.

"Future Jihad" is a thorough, detailed, and fact based (not conspiracy theory or emotion based) expose of radical Salafist Islamic Jihadist terrorism. Dr. Phares is from Lebanon, speaks, reads, and writes Arabic, and has studied terrorism for over 20 years. He now works for MSNBC as a Middle Eastern affairs expert. Dr. Phares was one of a handful of people in America trying to warn the U.S. government, BEFORE 9/11, that a terrorist attack on our soil was imminent.

Unfortunately, Dr. Phares and his colleagues were shouted down by the majority of Middle Eastern affairs experts in the U.S., products of our university system (many of whom can teach, but cannot do). Among other things, he was called a "NEOCON" who was trying to start a war (for oil). Interestingly, another reviewer on this site, who first praises Dr. Phares work, then calls him a "NEOCON"(sound familiar?) and criticizes him for not identyfying Dick Cheney, big oil, and Wall Street as the real causes of 9/11.

This is exactly the kind of political rhetoric that Phares said left us so wide open to terrorism; we were so busy fighting each other, that we took our attention off our real enemy. I am especially disturbed by this reviewer because Dr. Phares goes out of his way to leave politics out of his book. He targets no one, calls no one any names, and seeks only to reveal the facts behind terrorism. In fact, after reading this book, it is impossible to tell what political party, if any, Dr. Phares belongs to.

This same reviewer accuses Dr. Phares of overlooking "the larger context of the war on terrorism." In few words, he is upset that Dr. Phares does not blame America for 9/11. Allegedly our support for 44 dictators (usually because the alternative ruler was even worse than that one; even Americans say, "I am voting for "candidate x" only because he or she is not as bad as "candidate y,") Dick Cheney (who was never cited by the 9/11 commission as having any culpabilty in the 9/11 attacks), big oil (which fuels the economy of all of Western Europe, Latin America, East Asia, and North America and keeps us all warm, housed, clothed, fed, and employed), and Wall Street (which also keeps the ecomomies of the developed world running and their people warm, housed, clothed, fed, and employed; there is no Wall Street in Ethiopia, Somalia, and Eritrea, but I do not see a paradise flourishing there), as the reasons for terrorist attacks before, during, and after 9/11.

In few words, this reviewer has a Marxist worldview, and sees the capitalist, democratic republics of the West and the East, which give their people the highest standard of living in the world, the best education in the world, and the most civil rights in the world, as responsible for terrorism.

If the U.S. were only a Marxist paradise like North Korea (where millions are cold and starving), Cuba (from which people risk drowning at sea to flee), Vietman (which slaughtered ONE MILLION people after the U.S. left and uses steamrollers to execute those who dissent with the government{they start with the feet and work their way up...}), Venezuela (Where Hugo Chavez revises the Constitution to keep extending his term limit), or China (where most people have a job, as long as they keep their mouths shut), then the terrorists would not be angry with us anymore and they would leave us alone.

Dr. Phares forcefully refutes this idea in "Future Jihad" by demonstrating that radical salafist Islamic Jihadists hate atheistic Communists MORE THAN ANY OTHER GROUP, and that they saw the USSR as a GREATER threat than the U.S. because no freedom of religion was allowed(and Muslims were having their children indoctrinated as atheists). This is why terrorist attacks against the U.S. INCREASED after the fall of the Soviet Union, because the Salafist Jihadists saw that the "red devil" was gone, and only the "great Satan"(the U.S.) and the "little Satan"(Israel), remained. After these two fall, the radical Salafist Jihadists terrorists see the rest of the world as ripe for the taking.

He also points out that these same radical Salafist Islamic Jihadist terrorists groups are attacking people in Thailand, The Phillipines, Indonesia, India, Russia, Somalia, The Sudan, and other nations, who have NOTHING to do with America, Israel, big oil, Dick Cheney, or Wall Street. The movement is driven by a proactive ideology, not a reactive one: world domination one step at a time.

Dr. Phares uses facts, dates, history, and the Jihadists' own words refutes all of these misconceptions. What fuels radical Salafist Islmaic Jihadism is not U.S. domestic or foreign policy, but the Salafist theology spread by the Wahhabis in Saudi Arabia, the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, and the Khummeinists in Iran.

This ideology, similar to that of the Ku Klux Klan and other white supremacists groups, the Nazis, the fascist Japanese and Italians before and during WWII (Japanese and Italian racial supremacists), and Communists (political and economic supremacists), teaches that Islam is the Master Religion and is destined to RULE THE WORLD. It calls all Muslims to wage Jihad against all non-Muslims and all moderate Muslims who befriend non-Muslims until worldwide domination is achieved. This will come about one neighborhood, one city, one state, and one nation at a time.

What fuels radical Salafist Islamic Jihadism is not America, the West, Israel, Dick Cheney, big oil, or Wall Street, but a radical, violent, intolerant ideology similar to racism, nazism, fascism, and communism. It cannot tolerate any dissent, any debate, or any peaceful coexistence. Dialogue and diplomacy are only useful when they enable the Salafists to buy time, influence, and opportunity for an attack. But peace will only be achieved when they are either victorious or defeated.

Dr. Phares work is outstanding and will make one an overnight expert on the Middle East. He grew up there, he studied these movements, and he backs it up with facts and solid evidence. This one book can win the war on terror, for it exposes an enemy that uses deception and dissimulation to convince its victims that it is not a threat. Then it strikes without warning and without mercy. It worked on 9/11, and the radical Salafist Islamic Jihadists hope to make it work again.

The reviewer with whom I take issue may accuse me of being "biased" because I speak too well of America and of its capitalist economy. First, I earn $40,000 a year and this capitalist economy keeps me employed. Second, I thought I was just exercising my First Amendment freedom of speech and what Senator Hillary Clinton calls the fundamental right of every American to "debate and to disagree." But for some, this right applies only to themselves; the rest of us are supposed to remain silent.

Thankfully, Dr. Walid Phares has chosen not to remain silent, but to put politics and personal attacks aside, and write a nonparisan book that is designed to inform all Americans and to protect them from ever having to experience another 9/11.

Please read Dr. Phares' book. You will find that you cannot put it down once you start reading it and that you will be ordering multiple copies to give to family and friends.

Thank you for reading my review.

The author, Phares has studied islamic Jihad for the past 20 years and provides an authoritative history,current situation and future outlook for this movement.For anyone concerned with the future of islamic terror and the implications for American policy, it is a must read.A reader learns that Islamic Jihad is not negative reaction to US policy but a positve ideology, based on history and religion, with defined objectives. The conclusions are sobering if not frightening. The book is not an easy read but is worth the effort.

Folks, I have just read the book and all of the reviews posted on Amazon.com by 1/10/07 and believe that it should be "required reading" for anyone who wishes to remain a fully functioning citizen of the US. Rather than repeat what has already been said I would like to just provide a quick overview for someone who is considering reading the book.

At this time I have no reason to not believe "everything" that Walid has shared and have noticed that many of his concepts have been documented in the press by other writers.

Additionally, I have to note that most "opinions" about any book are usually based upon the readers background and needs and interest at a given time, myself included. A really true evaluation can only be given by someone who is already knowledgeable about the subject and has read a number of "other" books on the same topic.

QUICK OVERVIEW: The author provides an excellent description of the historical roots of Jihad which means a "call to action" which is well documented in the Koran. Next it describes who are the jihadists and how they are behind most if not all of the terrorist attacks that are taking place around the world and in the US including what happened on 911. The book concludes with projections as to what could happen if appropriate actions aren't taken particularly the US.

This book was the basic textbook from which all others on the subject were given meaning. The style of writing was somewhat difficult, yet necessarily so; abundant use of Arabic words and phrases used in this book being those also used in everyday news articles concerning jihadist activities. Without full understanding of the acual meaning of these words/phrases, there is no true understanding of the subject. Mr. Phares explains what the American mind fails to comprehend; how we could have failed to see ourselves being infiltrated, the total invasion of our culture, and the stunned nature of our response. For my own ease in comprehension I accompanied the reading with a word definition list, as well as a brief outline of what I had read which made quick reference available when I later ran into these same words and concepts.

First of all, the threat of Jihadists in his book is unquestionable and his opinions are interesting. However, here are the reasons why his book does not qualify to be a text for students and serious researchers:

1) Citations: He cited himself more than 35 times, mentioned ideas as if they were facts without providing any evidence (if you read on page 146, he says, "Jihadists within the West pose as civil rights advocates, interested in the rights of their immigrant communities). But what's worse is that Mr. Pharis cites well-known racist authors or right-wing radicals whose books are in question (daniel Pipes and Robert Spencer) instead of quoting terrorism experts such as Robert Pape or Bruce Hoffman. What's interesting is that Dr. Phares discredits (MESA),the Middle East Studies Association of America (maybe because he can't join it or he doesn't like is members), and, at the same time, praises Bernard Lewis by quoting him several times. But what Mr. Phares didn't know is that Bernard Lewis is (or was) one of the founders or board members of MESA. Additionally, he cited an 11-page double spaced essay that has no footnotes or anything to make a serious point in his argument (chapter six, endnote 6). If you were a college student, you would get an F for such a citation. There are even more controversial issues of citations and true academic work.

2) Dr. Pharis appears to fall in the ranks of the Wahhabi lobby myth. His logic is not convincing especially when he attacks American scholars who, unlike him, mention some good things about Islam or defend it. Just because one Middle Eastern scholar was arrested for sending money to Hamas, then the whole educational system in the US is infiltrated by Jihadists. That is what he tries to convince his readers. In addition, he likes the guilt by association argument. Just because an institution received money from Saudi Arabia, then its professors must be apologists for the Wahhabis. That is ridiculous. It appears to me that Dr. Phares is just jealous because he can't get a job in a 5 star university like Georgetown.

Finally, again, the facts cannot be disputed, and Dr. Pharis is an intelligent man and is very knowledgeable about Middle Eastern politics. However, I'm only criticizing his scholarly work and line of reasoning, and not his beliefs or ideas with which, in some instances, I agree.

I have spoken to Mr. Phares, calling him up and congratulating him because I was so taken with this book. It is informative, incisive and intelligent. I believe that it is a MUST READ for every American, every human being, to understand the real threat of radical Islam in the world.

If I were the president of the U.S., I would appoint the author to be a national security advisor on jihad. His message is that important. He really "gets it". Obviously, as a speaker of Arabic, he is in a unique position to understand the modern Islamofascist threat to the world, and that it is a LONG-TERM threat to any society and any group of people globally, who are not willing to "submit" to the most radical, fascistic form(s) of Islam. All you have to do is look at Afghanistan under the Taliban (women not allowed to show their faces, people shot to death en masse, children being "wed" to old men [as in the movie "Osama"], other cultures and religions not tolerated, etc., or Sudan, which has instituted ethnic cleansing and slavery against the black Africans. You can see the "plan" that the jihadists have for the world: to bring back slavery, wed kids to old men, murder ethnic minorities (like the Nazis), force people to "Arabize" themselves, create gender apartheid, murder homosexuals, burn books, etc. That is their "vision". They are spreading that vision globally, and Mr. Phares has done us all an incomparable service by writing this book, which is the best, most "long-range" study I have ever read, of Islamic imperialism, and how we can and must face it. (fortunatetly, we in the West are the ones with the technology and thus militarily, the upper-hand, still). I can't thank Mr. Phares enough for writing this book. I think he should get a medal or award, and be given some type of national security position (like Kissinger had under Nixon).

This is the best book on terrorism that I have had the pleasure of reading.It is very informative regarding past foreign policy blunders and clearly states how we have been misslead by our government and academics(many of which advise government). Any person that wants to be aware should digest this information. I could not rest until it was read, and plan to read it again.

I found this to being an interesting study of what the people that modern Jihadist want and think.