Confounding Powers
Anarchy and International Society from the Assassins to Al Qaeda

A comparative historical examination of the international systemic and societal origins and effects of Al Qaeda and similar historical actors.

William J. Brenner (Author)

9781107109452, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 29 January 2016

290 pages, 2 b/w illus. 5 maps 4 tables
23.7 x 16 x 2.5 cm, 0.57 kg

'In this study of actors that deviate from the structural and behavioural norms of global society, including the Assassins, the Mongols, the Barbary powers and al-Qaeda, the author looks at how such actors emerge and their way their behaviour serves in turn to shape the system they have breached.' Survival: Global Politics and Strategy

Nearly a decade and a half after 9/11, the study of international politics has yet to address some of the most pressing issues raised by the attacks, most notably the relationships between Al Qaeda's international systemic origins and its international societal effects. This theoretically broad-ranging and empirically far-reaching study addresses that question and others, advancing the study of international politics into new historical settings while providing insights into pressing policy challenges. Looking at actors that depart from established structural and behavioral patterns provides opportunities to examine how those deviations help generate the norms and identities that constitute international society. Systematic examination of the Assassins, Mongols, and Barbary powers provides historical comparison and context to our contemporary struggle, while enriching and deepening our understanding of the systemic forces behind, and societal effects of, these confounding powers.

Introduction
1. International society and the logics of anarchy
2. Confusion in the hearts of men: the Nizari Ismailis and the Assassin legends
3. 'A furore Tartarorum libera nos': the Mongol eruption and aftermath
4. Out of the shadow of God: power and piracy along the Barbary Coast
5. In the shadow of the spears: Al Qaeda's clash with civilization
Conclusion.

Subject Areas: International relations [JPS], Politics & government [JP], Sociology [JHB], 21st century history: from c 2000 - [HBLX], General & world history [HBG]