Islamists and the Global Order: Between Resistance and Recognition

by Hanna Pfeifer

Overview

This book presents a thought-provoking challenge to the commonly held belief that Islamists uniformly reject the Western-dominated world order. In the wake of George W. Bush's declaration of a 'global war on terror' in 2001, Islamists have often been associated with violence, opposition to liberal values and the disruption of order. However, a closer examination reveals that only a fraction of the groups categorised as 'Islamist' genuinely combat the global order. Through an in-depth analysis of the discourses of Tunisian Ennahda and Lebanese Hezbollah, this book demonstrates that Islamist stances toward the world order involve a delicate balance between resistance to certain aspects of the Western-dominated order and recognition of others.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781399515863
Publisher:	Edinburgh University Press
Publication date:	01/31/2026
Series:	Edinburgh Studies of the Globalised Muslim World
Pages:	352
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.00(d)

About the Author

Hanna Pfeifer is Professor of Political Science with a focus on Radicalisation and Violence Research at Goethe UniversityFrankfurt and the Peace Research Institute Frankfurt (PRIF). At PRIF, she also serves as the head of the research group on terrorism. Her research is centred on the dynamics of violent and non-violent politics of ordering, particularly in the context of interactions between state and non-state entities in West Asia and North Africa. Additionally, her expertise extends to German foreign and security policy. Her scholarly contributions have been featured, among others, in Civil Wars, Small Wars & Insurgencies, Foreign Policy Analysis, German Politics and Politics and Religion. She is co-editor (with Anna Geis and Maéva Clément) of the volume on Armed Non-state Actors and the Politics of Recognition (Manchester UniversityPress, 2021).

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements
List of Illustrations
List of Abbreviations
Series Editor’s Foreword

Introduction: Islamists and the Western-Dominated World Order – Deconstructing a Tale of Two Enemies
PART I ISLAMISTS IN A WORLD ORDER UNDER WESTERN HEGEMONY
1 Setting the Scene: How Islamists Came to be Known as Rejectionists and Enemies of World Order
2 A Discursive Understanding of World Order: Sovereignty, Legitimacy and Teloi
PART II DISCURSIVE STRUGGLES OVER WORLD ORDER: TUNISIAN ENNAHDA AND LEBANESE HEZBOLLAH
3 Ennahda and Hezbollah: Islamist Actors in the Context of the Arab Uprisings
4 Sovereignty
5 Legitimacy
6 Teloi
Conclusion: Islamists as (World) Political Actors and Co-producers of Global Order
List of Interviews
Bibliography
Index

Editorial Reviews

‘This is an ambitious book which is well situated in the nexus between IR theory, Middle East studies and different strands of the Islamist scholarship. In a convincing way, it presents an original, nuanced and complex argument that builds on theoretical, methodological and empirical insights and tools from these different academic traditions.’

Morten Valbjørn

A much-needed contribution to our understanding of how Islamists actors interact with the western-dominated global order. Moving beyond monolithic views of Islamists, Hanna Pfeifer presents an insightful and rich analysis of how multifaceted Islamist actors are in their outlook on the international.

May Darwich

Hanna Pfeifer’s book is a well-crafted, theoretically rich study on how statist Islamists perceive and frame the Western-dominated world order. Her core argument that both the Tunisian Ennahda and the Lebanese Hezballah primarily recognize rather than resist central principles of global order is highly innovative. This volume will certainly become an important reference work at the intersection of IR and Islamism studies in the years to come.

André Bank

In Islamists and the Global Order, Hanna Pfeifer examines the underexplored worldviews of Ennahda and Hezbollah regarding global order. By delving into these perspectives, Pfeifer effectively challenges the prevalent 'Islam versus the West' narrative and transcends the conventional security-focused approach that dominates political science's treatment of political Islam.

Jocelyne Cesari