Islam, Domestic Politics and International Relations

Abstract

Political Ideology in the Arab World: Accommodation and Transformation. By Michaelle L. Browers Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009. 210 pp. $26.00 paperback (ISBN-13: 978-0-521-74934-3). Islam and Peacemaking in the Middle East. By Nathan C. Funk, Abdul Aziz Said, Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 2009. 303 pp. $65.00 hardcover (ISBN-13: 978-1-588-26569-2). Political Islam in Southeast Asia. By Gordon P. Means,. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 2009. 444 pp. $32.00 paperback (ISBN-13: 978-1-58826-678-1). Al-Qaeda's terrorist activities, sectarian conflict in Iraq, and the electoral successes of Islamists in many parts of the Arab world have drawn great attention once again to the role of Islam in international affairs. In fact, since the Islamic resurgence of the 1970s, and especially the Iranian revolution of 1979, Islam has played an increasingly greater role in the domestic and international politics of the Muslim world. In the 1990s, violent and nonviolent Islamist challenges to Arab regimes sparked fears about the “Islamic threat.” Thus, given the context of the events of the last decade, the dearth of literature on the role of Islam in international relations, a discipline that seeks to make sense of global issues, is striking. To be fair, there have been some waves of related research. In the 1990s, Samuel Huntington's controversial Clash of Civilizations thesis stirred debate, but it became less about cultural–religious factors as a source of conflict and more about perceptions of Islam's role in international politics. While some of the literature after 9/11 that has probed the robustness of Islam as an explanatory variable for political violence, civil war, and terrorism may be considered part of a burgeoning literature on religion and politics, there is still a great amount of work to be done on Islam and international relations. The purpose of this essay is to do more than just review three books that deal with Islam and politics. Rather, I shall make the case that these books, which differ greatly in methodology, substance, and target audience, have something important to say about contemporary debates in international relations. Rather, I shall make the case that these books, which differ greatly in methodology, substance, and target audience, have something important to say about contemporary debates in international relations; they highlight the ways in …