Iraq, Democracy and the Future of the Muslim World

by Paya; Ali

• ISBN13: 9780415582285
• ISBN10: 0415582288
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2010-08-03
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

Iraq, democracy and Islam are powerful global forces which shape not only many aspects of the lives of Muslims, but the lives of other citizens of the world as well. This book explores many of the challenging questions posed by the interconnections between these three forces, concentrating on issues which have global significance and which have been less studied up until now. It contains contributions from many of the leading thinkers and academics from this subject area, including the former President of Iran, Seyyed Mohammad Khatami.Topics such as the compatibility of Islam and democracy, and the question of whether democracy can be encouraged in the Middle East are looked at carefully. Contributors evaluate the circumstances under which democracy can be imposed by outside force, and asks what forces are driving the confrontation between the West and Islam, before looking at how this confrontation is likely to develop.This book presents a comprehensive picture of dynamic change in the geopolitics of our time, and offers a timely contribution to research on Middle East Politics and Islamic Studies.

Author Biography

Ali Paya is Senior Visiting Research Fellow at the Centre for the Study of Democracy, School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Languages at the University of Westminster, UK, and Associate Professor of Philosophy at the National Research Institute for Science Policy in Iran. John L. Esposito is Professor of Religion and International Affairs and of Islamic Studies at Georgetown University, USA, and Founding Director of the Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding: History and International Affairs in the Walsh School of Foreign Service.

Table of Contents

List of contributors	p. ix
List of abbreviations	p. xiii
Introduction	p. 1
Iraq	p. 17
Religion, sect, ethnicity and tribe: the uncertainties of identity politics in the new society	p. 19
Lessons from Iraq	p. 36
Kurdistan: democracy and the future of Iraq	p. 50
Forging a third way: Sistani's marja 'iyya between quietism and wilayat al-faqih	p. 66
Democracy	p. 81
Humble democracy? On the need for new thinking about an aging ideal	p. 83
Islamic democracy: a valid concept or an oxymoron?	p. 101
Promoting democracy	p. 116
The democratic freedom deficit in the Middle East	p. 130
The future of the Muslim world	p. 145
Muslim world, historical perspectives and modern political discourses	p. 147
The saga of Islam and democracy in the Middle East	p. 159
Islam's future imperfect: fighting over camels at the end of history	p. 172
Triumph through destabilization: the future of political Islam	p. 184
Reason and revelation in Islamic political ethics	p. 199
Index	p. 216
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