The premise of U.S. policy since 9/11 is that we can win the war on terrorism by introducing democratic reform in the Middle East. But does democracy have any base of support in the Muslim world? This eye-opening book examines the history of reform in the Arab world and shows how hostile clerics, government oppression, and entrenched cultural attitudes have thwarted democratic impulses-until now. It profiles courageous Middle Eastern activists and thinkers who have worked to introduce reforms in their native lands-and analyzes their complicated current chances of success in the wake of the American presence in Iraq and Afghanistan.