Military Review English Edition January-February 2017 | Page 128

REVIEW ESSAY The True Believer Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements Eric Hoffer, Harper Perennial, New York, 2010, 192 pages Lt. Col. Benjamin Buchholz, U.S. Army M any theories attempt to define and offer solutions for dealing with the brand of radical Islam that fuels Middle Eastern movements such as Daesh.1 Other attempts have been made to demonstrate that radical Islam is not Islam at all, except in the most superficial or perverted manner. The constant claim in those scenarios is that Islamist ideology not only misrepresents Islam, but it can also be viewed as “a virulent vision all its own, one that its adherents have created by plucking selections from centuries of traditions.”2 However, this argument rarely extends far enough to give the “virulent vision” a name other than radical, or fundamental Islam, let alone suggest remedies.3 Common to both of these approaches is the base assumption that the problem of Daesh and al-Qaida should be defined in Islamic terms. An alternative methodology, one that applies the sociology of mass movements rather than the prejudices of religion, removes ipso facto the contentiousness of religious debate and provides insights into—and new methods for countering—these movements’ appeal.4 As such, Eric Hoffer’s study in The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements not only 126 provides a roadmap for analyzing radical Islam as something other than religious heterodoxy but also offers solutions that suggest new approaches to dealing with the many, apparently intractable issues radical Islam presents.5 The work is broken into four main parts, though two apply most practically to the mass movement of radical Islam: a discussion of why mass movements have appeal and an analysis of the traits most likely to produce converts to a mass movement.6 The Appeal of Mass Movements Two points that apply directly to the rise of Daesh as a mass movement appear in the beginning of The True Believer. First, Hoffer states, The contribution of the Western democracies to the awakening of the East has been indirect and certainly unintended. They have kindled an enthusiasm of resentment against the West; and it is this anti-Western fervor which is at present rousing the Orient from its stagnation of centuries.7 Second, instead of merely blaming discontent for the rise of mass movements, Hoffer digs deeper. He situates January-February 2017  MILITARY REVIEW