War for Peace

Idris mounts a powerful case through meticulous and imaginative readings of a series of 10 key thinkers. ... he manages to narrate the history of a concept with considerable coherence over a long period and a diverse array of authors. The resulting balance between particularity and reverberation is one of the book's great pleasures and strengths. * Perspectives on Politics *
In his important and profound book, War for Peace: Genealogies of a Violent Ideal in Western and Islamic Thought, Murad Idris counsels his readers against being surprised whenever people say that they want peace while simultaneously planning to kill their enemies. ... It provides a fresh perspective on canonical authors in the Western and Islamic intellectual tradition, including authors who have rarely been brought into conversation with one another, such as Kant and Qutb. * Contemporary Political Theory *
"[T]houghtful, provocative, and highly illuminating. * The Review of Politics *
"[C]omplex and ambitious. * Political Theory *
War for Peace is a majestic example of how to do political philosophy today, in a spirit of epistemological democracy, historical justice and indeed aesthetic finesse. * Politics, Religion, and Ideology *
We are urged to think about peace and the valence that is given to the word and the ideal — since the moral and the political understandings of peace are often entangled and part of what Idris is doing in his careful and thoughtful research is to tease out the political concept, apart from the often religious and moral ideal. This rich and complex analysis integrates a broad group of theorists — Plato, al-Farabi, Aquinas, Erasmus, Gentili, Grotius, Ibn Khaldun, Hobbes, Kant, and Sayyid Qutb) — all of whom were examining the role of peace within politics and political thought. * New Books Network *
Quite simply, this remarkably original and tightly argued book holds out just such a promise. * Asma Afsaruddin, Indiana University, The Review of Politics *
Idris's War for Peace accomplishes at least three things. It provides a fresh perspective on canonical authors in the Western and Islamic intellectual tradition, including authors who have rarely been brought into conversation with one another, such as Kant and Qutb. It prompts us to recognize the darker side of calls for peace in places such as Palestine, Baltimore, or Iran. And it provokes us to construct a less vindictive conception of peace. * Nicholas Tampio, Fordham University *
A bold and powerful voice who dares to question the ideal of peace, Murad Idris takes us on a journey in the history of political thought to show how war and peace have been inextricably intertwined. Figures like the infidel, the barbarian, the nomad, and the pirate emerge as the vivid correlates of the brother, the neighbor, and the friend on a moral and moralizing terrain in which peace authorizes and justifies war. This is an essential and captivating read, which provocatively suggests that peace is not just a solution but also a problem. * Banu Bargu, History of Consciousness, University of California, Santa Cruz, and author of Starve and Immolate: The Politics of Human Weapons *
War for Peace is a meticulously researched and provocative book, remarkable for its scope and originality. Idris moves with ease among thinkers from Plato to Sayyid Qutb, asking crucial questions not only about what discourses of peace say, but also about what they do. His arguments are compelling, and bring into sharp relief the ways in which 'peace' is a site of political power, as well as a powerful moralizing tool. The book is a major achievement, and should be read by scholars, policymakers, and politicians alike-along with anyone who cares about peace. * Roxanne L. Euben, University of Pennsylvania *
This book is an original and ambitious piece of scholarship. It is rare to encounter books on political theory with the erudition and linguistic literacy that Idris commands. To plot a history of political theory from the Greeks through the Romans and the Arabs to Renaissance Europe and the Enlightenment, moving forward to the Arab Renaissance and twentieth century thinkers, is a feat few have attempted before and never as successfully. * Joseph Massad, Columbia University and author of Islam in Liberalism *
From ancient times, the professed aspiration for peace has served as perhaps the most fertile justification and warrant for war. In recent decades, this longstanding complicity has assumed indecent proportions in the rhetoric of presidents, leaders, and in the thinking of ordinary citizens. With skeptical and irreverent intelligence, erudition, and insight, War for Peace exposes the political, conceptual, and ethical minefield that has surrounded the invocation of peace from ancient Athens, through to Islam and the modern west. * Uday S. Mehta, Distinguished Professor of Political Science, Graduate Center, City University of New York *
War for Peace is a landmark study in the field of political theory, exploring how the concept of peace has been profoundly fused with practices of violence and war-making. Alongside the erudition and analytical power with which Idris develops these arguments, what makes the book so remarkable is how it transcends traditional philosophical divisions between Occident and Orient, Ancient and Modern. In exploring the links between thinkers as wide-ranging as Plato, Ibn Khaldun, and Kant, Idris challenges the typical histories of political thought and dazzlingly highlights the shared predicaments that have marked essential texts on war and peace. * Aziz Rana, author of The Two Faces of American Freedom *
It marks an indispensable contribution to the area of political theory and peace and conflict studies in general, and to the budding area of comparative political theory--owing to its method and approach--in particular. Academics and students of knowledge can glean profound insights and invaluable knowledge from this scholarly contribution. * Faizan Akbar, Manchester Journal of Transnational Islamic Law & Practice *