Islam In World Politics

Over the past few decades, Islam has emerged as a political force on the international scene and Islam in World Politics analyzes the factors leading to, and the implications of this heightening of the profile of a religion. In the political sphere, there is a wide range of emphasis both in which an Islamic society might be realized and the way in which such a society might conduct its relation with the non-Muslim world. Within these different emphases are some radical tendencies. A cluster of fringe groups, broadly referred to as Islamists, have hijacked and appropriated the rhetoric of Islam, applying it to a promised "Islamic" reality to be realized once "Islam is fully applied". The essays withinIslam in World Politicsare driven by the concern to address there issues. Areas that are covered include an examination of the challenge of Islamism to the Muslim world, the sue of Islam as a political tool on the international scene, its contributions to the theory and practice of globalfinance, its role in gender discourse, and its articulations in the Indian Sub-continent, Southeast Asia, Central Asia, and the Arab World.