{"id":51902,"date":"2026-03-13T23:38:46","date_gmt":"2026-03-13T23:38:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/?p=51902"},"modified":"2026-03-13T23:38:46","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T23:38:46","slug":"harun-karcic-balkan-muslims-and-the-middle-east-the-influence-of-the-arab-world-on-the-islamic-revival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/?p=51902","title":{"rendered":"Harun Karcic, \u201eBalkan Muslims and the Middle East: The Influence of the Arab World on the Islamic Revival\u201c"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The current revival of Islam among Balkan Muslims did not simply start when war broke out in Bosnia in 1992. It is part of a much longer history of contact with the Middle East.<\/strong>

This book is the first to examine the evolving relationship between the Balkans and the Middle East covering three phases: the establishment of communist Yugoslavia in 1946, the period of its violent collapse, and during its uneasy post-war and post-Yugoslav independence. Haruc Karcic identifies how official links with the Middle East sparked an Islamic revival. Particularly significant were the large-scale student exchanges between Yugoslavia and the Middle East, and Yugoslavia’s export of its military and technological knowledge to the Middle East. The book reveals that Yugoslavia realized it could use its Muslim population as ‘gate openers’ in winning lucrative business deals in the Arab world. Furthermore, the visibility and increasing number of Yugoslav Muslims in the Middle East were used for their Arabic skills to lobby for support when the war broke out.

The book uncovers how Balkan Muslims have survived and adapted to their turbulent history and what contact with Muslim-majority states meant to them. It is based on empirical research and primary sources including interviews, the archives of the Islamic Community in Bosnia and Herzegovina as well as the Communist Party of Yugoslavia, and articles and reports published in the journals ‘Glasnik’ and ‘Takvim’, and the newspapers ‘Preporod’ and ‘Oslobodjenje’.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Table of Contents<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Introduction
1. Balkan Muslims after the Ottoman Retreat
2. Islam under Communism
3. Tito’s Arab Friends
4. Collapse of Communism, War and Genocide
5. Arab Mujahedeen, Islamic Charities and Scholarships
6. Islamic Soft Power: Turkish, Saudi and Iranian Influence
7. Wrestling back ‘Bosnian Islam’
Conclusion<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Harun Karcic<\/strong> is a journalist, political analyst, and commentator specializing in the Balkans, foreign influence operations, and Islamic affairs. For over 15 years, he has reported on geopolitics, religion, and security for Al Jazeera and other international outlets. Karcic has authored numerous policy papers and opinion pieces for think tanks and global media. He is currently Vice Chairman of the Sarajevo Security Conference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Product details<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Published 11 Dec 2025<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Format Hardback<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Edition 1st<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Extent   248<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ISBN 9780755646845<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Imprint I.B. Tauris<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dimensions 234 x 156 mm<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.bloomsbury.com\/uk\/balkan-muslims-and-the-middle-east-9780755646845<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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