Trifkovic, Serge (Srdja Trifkovic)

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TRIFKOVIC, Serge
(Srdja Trifkovic)

PERSONAL:

Born in Belgrade, Yugoslavia (now Serbia). Education: Graduated from the University of Sussex; University of Southhampton, Ph.D.

ADDRESSES:

Office—Chronicles, 928 N. Main St., Rockford, IL 61103.

CAREER:

Journalist and historian. Chronicles: A Magazine of American Culture, foreign affairs editor, 1998—. Formerly broadcaster and producer, BBC World Service, London, England, and Voice of America, Washington, DC; covered southeast Europe for U.S. News & World Report and the Washington Times; has appeared on BBC World Service, CNN International, and MSNBC, among other news outlets.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Postdoctoral research grant at the Hoover Institution at Stanford, U.S. State Department.

WRITINGS:

(As Srdja Trifkovic) Ustasa: Croatian Separatism and European Politics, 1929-1945, The Lord Byron Foundation for Balkan Studies (London, England), 1998.

The Sword of the Prophet: Islam: History, Theology, Impact on the World, Regina Orthodox Press (Boston, MA), 2002.

Has also written commentary for the Philadelphia Inquirer, London Times, and Cleveland Plain Dealer.

SIDELIGHTS:

Serge Trifkovic is the foreign editor of Chronicles magazine; he also holds a Ph.D. and has extensive experience as a broadcaster, producer, and political commentator. Trifkovic has published a book about the militant history of Islam, The Sword of the Prophet: Islam: History, Theology, Impact on the World. The book also calls itself "The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam," which hints at the controversial nature of its subject. The book was published exactly one year after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States.

The author's object in The Sword of the Prophet is to show how, since the time of its founder Mohammed, Islam has sanctioned violence in the persecution of non-Muslims, victimized and debased women, and supported all methods of advancing the Muslim religion. Trifkovic warns that the West should defend itself against the aggression of "true" Muslims by limiting Muslim immigration and becoming less dependent on oil from Islamic countries. He asserts that while the majority of Muslims want peace, they do not represent the dangerous foundation of Islam and would lull others into not taking the threat of violence seriously.

The volatile nature of this argument was reflected by a review for Media Monitors Network, in which Habib Siddiqui called the author's perspective "repulsive" and remarked that he had a Serbian bias against Muslims. Writing for Greco Report, Michael M. Stenton supported the author's analysis but judged that "many Westerners will dismiss Trifkovic's account of Islam simply because they refuse to take religion seriously." Calling Sword of the Prophet more thorough and wide-ranging than similar books, Booklist's Ray Olson commented that the author makes an "exceptionally fluid argument against militant Islam."