Book Reviews

Abstract

101 Journal of South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies Vol. XXXIV, No.3, Spring 2011 Book Reviews Edited by Nadia Barsoum MIDDLE EAST , NORTH AFRICA AND INDIA INTERNATIONAL TRADE and ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION, India’s Approach and Perspectives by Gautam Murthy, New Century Publications. New Delhi, India pp. 206. The author examined India’s geo-economics which has undergone drastic changes after the initiation of economic reforms. India had adopted a very cautious and guarded approach to regionalism. Regional Trade Agreements(RIAs) are an integral part of India’s foreign trade policy. BOMBAY ISLAM: THE Religious Economy of the West Indian Ocean, 19840-1915 by Nile Green, publish by Cambridge University Press 2011, pp. 327 Green traces the ties between industrialization, imperialism, and the production of religion to show how Muslim migration from the oceanic and continental hinterland of Bombay fuelled demand for a wide range of religious suppliers, as Christian missionaries competed with Muslim religious entrepreneurs for a stake in the new market ISLAM TRANSLATED: Literature, Conversion and the Arabic Cosmopolis of South and Southeast Asia by Ronit Ricci. Ricci examines the history of Islamization in South and Southeast Asia through the lens of translation processes, linguistic change and literary transmission. Using a single, rich textural tradition the author explores how processes of literary translation were historically interconnected and religious conversion were historically interconnected, mutually dependent and creatively reformulated within societies making the transition to Islam. INDIA’S ISRAEL POLICY by P.R. Kumaraswamy, published by Columbia University Press 2010, pp.362. this work is the first to account for India’s Israel policy, revealing surprising inconsistencies in positions taken by country’s leaders. Such as Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru, and tracing the crackling tensions between its professed values and realpolitik. Kumaraswamy’s finding debunk the belief that India possesses a homogenous policy toward the Middle East. In fact, since the early days of independence, many within India have supported and pursued relations with Israel. 102 POLITICAL ISLAM OBSERVED by Frederic Volpi, published by Columbia University Press 2010, New York pp.226. Volpi compares the academic disciplines that “observe” contemporary political Islam to the actual individuals and communities that are being observed by them. Zeroing on the social sciences and their distinct approach to “Islamic” subject matter, he shows how disciplines analyze political Islam according to their own dominant paradigms. Even with the incorporation of specialist viewpoints, the interdisciplinary drive often results in nothing more than educated guesses geared toward political and public consumption. BARBAROUS PHILOSOPHERS: Reflections on the Nature of War from Heraclitus to Heisenberg by Christopher Coker published by Columbia University Press 2010, New York pp.278.Coker’s book focuses less on the philosophical underpinnings of war and more on the particular problems we face while fighting war today. Guided by the work of sixteen major thinkers, it examines several paradoxes of combat: the belief that war is a continuation rather than a negation, of political by other means; the idea that we should respect those who don’t respect us; the notion that war can help a soldier reaffirm his humanity; and the odd fact that the concept of peace is still contested. LAND OF THE UNCONQUERABLE: The lives of the contemporary Afghan women, edited by Jennifer Heath and Ashraf Zahedi, published University of California Press 2011, pp.393.Reaching beyond sensational headlines, this volume at last offers a three dimensional portrait of Afghan women. In a series of wide-ranging deeply reflective essays, accomplished scholars most with extended experience inside Afghanistan- examine the realities of life for women in both urban and rural settings. They address topics including food security, sex work, health, marriage, education, poetry , politics, prisoners, community development, and more. EGYPT AND THE POLITICS OF CHANGE IN THE ARAB MIDDLE EAST by Robert Bowker, published by Edward Elgar Glos Gl50 2JA, UK 2010. This volume is forward-looking analysis of the relationship between economic and political reform in Egypt, and of the evolving nature of Arab society and political culture both in Egypt and elsewhere. Bowker discusses the potential impact of systemic resistance to pressure for greater transparency, accountability and political reform amid ongoing demographic, educational and generational changes. He considers...