{"id":44518,"date":"2015-04-19T21:30:47","date_gmt":"2015-04-19T21:30:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/zenpundit.com\/?p=44518"},"modified":"2015-04-19T21:30:47","modified_gmt":"2015-04-19T21:30:47","slug":"boston-apocalyptic-hopes-millennial-dreams-and-global-jihad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zenpundit.com\/?p=44518","title":{"rendered":"Boston: Apocalyptic Hopes, Millennial Dreams and Global Jihad"},"content":{"rendered":"

[ by Charles Cameron<\/strong> — “The now defunct Center for Millennial Studies at Boston University (1996-2003) brings to the public one final conference on apocalyptic beliefs” ]
\n.<\/p>\n

If this was a movie, I’d say the speakers at this conference were a “stellar cast”! Will McCants, Graeme Wood, Cole Bunzel, Timothy Furnish, David Cook, JM Berger, Husain Haqqani<\/strong>.. Paul Berman<\/strong> and Ayaan Hirsi Ali<\/strong>..<\/p>\n

I participated in several of the old Center for Millennial Studies<\/strong> conferences that Richard Landes<\/strong> organized around the turn of the millennium, and they were intense academic highlights for me. I thought it very short-sighted when CMS funding was cut after the turn of the year 2000, agreeing with Dr Landes that millenarianism was unlikely to go away any time soon — and AQ, and IS even more so, have more than proven his point — hence this “final” conference. <\/p>\n

If you can attend, by all means do — highly recommended. I’m delighted to have been invited to attend myself, and hope to keep Zenpundit <\/strong>readers well informed. <\/p>\n

**<\/p>\n

Apocalyptic Hopes, Millennial Dreams and Global Jihad: May 3-4, 2015, Boston University<\/h4>\n

Sponsored by the BU History Department and Scholars for Peace in the Middle East<\/p>\n

Most Westerners associate the terms apocalyptic and millennial (millenarian) with Christian beliefs about the endtime. Few even know that Muhammad began his career as an apocalyptic prophet predicting the imminent Last Judgment. And yet, for the last thirty years, a wide-ranging group of militants, both Sunni and Shi\u2019i, both in coordination and independently, have, under the apocalyptic belief that now<\/em> is the time, pursued the millennial goal of spreading Dar al Islam to the entire world. In a manner entirely in keeping with apocalyptic beliefs, but utterly counter-intuitive to outsiders, these Jihadis see the Western-driven transformation of the world as a vehicle for their millennial beliefs, or, to paraphrase Eusebius on the relationship between the Roman Empire and Christianity: Praeparatio Califatae.<\/em><\/p>\n

The apocalyptic scenario whereby this global conquest takes place differs from active transformative (the West shall be conquered by Da\u2019wa<\/a> [summons]) to active cataclysmic (bloody conquest<\/a>). Western experts have until quite recently, for a wide range of reasons, ignored this dimension of the problem. And yet, understanding the nature of global Jihad in terms of the dynamics of apocalyptic millennial groups may provide an important understanding, both to their motivations, methods, as well as their responses to the inevitable disappointments that await all such believers. The now defunct Center for Millennial Studies at Boston University (1996-2003) brings to the public one final conference on apocalyptic beliefs, co-sponsored by the BU History Department and Scholars for Peace in the Middle East (SPME).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

**<\/p>\n

Schedule:<\/h4>\n

*All events will take place in the Stone Science Building (645 Commonwealth Ave), room B50<\/p>\n

Sunday, May 3<\/h4>\n

10:00-12:00 Introduction:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

1. Richard Landes, \u201cGlobalization as a Millennial Praeparatio Califatae<\/em>: A Problematic Discussion
\n2. William McCants, Brookings Institute: \u201cISIS and the Absent Mahdi: Studies in Cognitive Dissonance and Apocalyptic Jazz\u201d
\n3. Graeme Wood, Yale University, Atlantic Monthly: \u201cOn the Resistance to seeing Global Jihad as Apocalyptic Movement\u201d<\/p>\n

12:00-1:30 Break for Lunch<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

1:30-3:30 Panel II: The Millennial Goal: Global Caliphate<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

1. Cole Bunzel, Yale U.: ISIS: From Paper State to Caliphate: Hotwiring the Millennium
\n2. Timothy Furnish, Independent Scholar: \u201cVarieties of Transformative (non-violent) Jihadi Millennialism
\n3. Jeffrey Bale: Monterey Institute of International Studies, \u201cThe Persistence of Western \u2018Mirror Imaging\u2019 and Ideological Double Standards: Refusing to Take Islamist Ideology Seriously<\/p>\n

4:00-5:30 Panel III: Case Studies in Apocalyptic Jihad<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

1. David Cook, Rice University: \u201cISIS and Boko Haram: Profiles in Apocalyptic Jihad\u201d
\n2. JM Berger, Brookings Institute, \u201cThe role of communications Technology in mediating apocalyptic communities\u201d
\n3. Mehdi Khalaji, Washington Institute of Near East Policy: \u201cApocalyptic Revolutionary Politics in Iran\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Monday, May 4<\/h4>\n

10:0-12:00 Panel IV: Conspiracy Theory and Apocalyptic Genocide<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

1. Itamar Marcus, Palestinian Media Watch, \u201cAnti-Semitism, Conspiracy Theory and Apocalyptic Global Jihad\u201d
\n2. Charles Small, \u201cIdeology and Antisemitism: Random Acts or a Core Element of the Reactionary Islamist Global Jihad?\u201d
\n3. Richard Landes, BU, \u201cActive Cataclysmic Apocalyptic Scenarios, Demonizing and Megadeath: Taiping, Communists, Nazis, and Jihadis.\u201d
\nComments: David Redles, Michael Barkun<\/p>\n

12:00-1:30 Break for Lunch <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

1:30-4:00 Final Panel Discussion<\/strong><\/p>\n

Paul Berman, Independent Scholar
\nAyaan Hirsi Ali, Independent Scholar
\nJessica Stern, Harvard University
\nHusain Haqqani, Hudson Institute
\nCharles Strozier, John Jay College
\nBrenda Brasher, Tulane University\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

**<\/p>\n

Selected Work<\/h4>\n

Ayaan Hirsi Ali<\/strong>
\nRead “Those Who Love Death: Islam’s Fatal Focus on the Afterlife” from Heretic <\/em>(2015) Here<\/a><\/p>\n

Jeffrey Bale<\/strong>
\nRead “Islamism and Totalitarianism” (2009) Here<\/a>
\nRead “Political Correctness and the Undermining of Counterterrorism” (2013) Here<\/a><\/p>\n

J.M Berger<\/strong>
\nRead “The ISIS Twitter Consensus” (2015) Here<\/a>
\nProfessor Berger’s latest book, coauthored with Jessica Stern, ISIS: State of Terror<\/em>, can be purchased Here<\/a><\/p>\n

Paul Berman<\/strong>
\nRead “Why is the Islamist Death Cult So Appealing?” (2015) Here<\/a><\/p>\n

Cole Bunzel<\/strong>
\nRead “From Paper State to Caliphate: The Ideology of the Islamic State” (2015) Here<\/a><\/p>\n

Medhi Khalaji<\/strong>
\nRead “Apocalyptic Politics: On the Rationality of Iranian Policy” (2008) Here<\/a><\/p>\n

Richard Landes<\/strong>
\nRead “Enraged Millennials” from Heaven on Earth: The Varieties of the Millennial Experience <\/em>(2011) Here<\/a><\/p>\n

William McCants<\/strong>
\nRead “The Sectarian Apocalypse” (2014) Here<\/a><\/p>\n

Jessica Stern<\/strong>
\nRead “The Coming Final Battle” from ISIS: State of Terror <\/em>(2015) Here<\/a><\/p>\n

Charles Strozier<\/strong>
\nProfessor Strozier’s book, The Fundamentalist Mindset <\/em>can be purchased Here<\/a><\/p>\n

Graeme Wood<\/strong>
\nRead “What ISIS Really Wants” (2015) Here<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[ by Charles Cameron — “The now defunct Center for Millennial Studies at Boston University (1996-2003) brings to the public one final conference on apocalyptic beliefs” ] . If this was a movie, I’d say the speakers at this conference were a “stellar cast”! Will McCants, Graeme Wood, Cole Bunzel, Timothy Furnish, David Cook, JM […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[622,526,896,1078,1047,753,210,897,1,769],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44518","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-apocalyptic","category-charles-cameron","category-dr-timothy-furnish","category-is","category-isis","category-islam","category-islamist","category-jm-berger-2","category-uncategorized","category-will-mccants"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zenpundit.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44518","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zenpundit.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zenpundit.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zenpundit.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zenpundit.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=44518"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/zenpundit.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44518\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44569,"href":"https:\/\/zenpundit.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44518\/revisions\/44569"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zenpundit.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=44518"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zenpundit.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=44518"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zenpundit.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=44518"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}