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Author: Adam Scott Crawford Publisher: ISBN: Category : Languages : en Pages : 166
Book Description
This project examines international religious freedom (IRF) as a tenet of U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). The project also reviews the discourses surrounding the issue of religious freedom both in the United States and Western Europe and argues that the frame of secularism--that is, the separation of the religious and political realms--is a hegemonic frame in both the U.S. and Western Europe. The discursive analysis relies on a typology of secularism developed by the political scientist José Casanova. It classifies the secularist discourse of Western Europe as an ideological secularism--which sees religion as antithetical to notions of modern human existence. It also classifies the secularist discourse of the United States as mainly statecraft secularist--in that it seeks only to sustain differentiated religious and political spheres. The project examines the religious freedom approach of the United States in the MENA region and argues that it has failed in identifying and criticizing forms of religious persecution of Islamist actors in various assertive secularist regimes in the modern MENA region. Islamism will remain salient throughout the region, particularly given the weakness of other forms of identity signification, such as secular-nationalist identities, throughout the region. The United States should rethink its approach to IRF, particularly its unwillingness to classify Islamist socio-political actors as religious actors deserving of U.S. IRF advocacy. While Islamist actors may not adhere fully to the tenets of Western liberalism--U.S. advocacy for their religious freedom may prevent the more radical strains of the ideology from fomenting domestic and transnational violence.
Author: Adam Scott Crawford Publisher: ISBN: Category : Languages : en Pages : 166
Book Description
This project examines international religious freedom (IRF) as a tenet of U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). The project also reviews the discourses surrounding the issue of religious freedom both in the United States and Western Europe and argues that the frame of secularism--that is, the separation of the religious and political realms--is a hegemonic frame in both the U.S. and Western Europe. The discursive analysis relies on a typology of secularism developed by the political scientist José Casanova. It classifies the secularist discourse of Western Europe as an ideological secularism--which sees religion as antithetical to notions of modern human existence. It also classifies the secularist discourse of the United States as mainly statecraft secularist--in that it seeks only to sustain differentiated religious and political spheres. The project examines the religious freedom approach of the United States in the MENA region and argues that it has failed in identifying and criticizing forms of religious persecution of Islamist actors in various assertive secularist regimes in the modern MENA region. Islamism will remain salient throughout the region, particularly given the weakness of other forms of identity signification, such as secular-nationalist identities, throughout the region. The United States should rethink its approach to IRF, particularly its unwillingness to classify Islamist socio-political actors as religious actors deserving of U.S. IRF advocacy. While Islamist actors may not adhere fully to the tenets of Western liberalism--U.S. advocacy for their religious freedom may prevent the more radical strains of the ideology from fomenting domestic and transnational violence.
Author: Maria Toropova Publisher: Springer Nature ISBN: 3658337761 Category : Religion Languages : en Pages : 270
Book Description
The authors of this book analyze the mechanisms and strategies that allow specific religious actors to affect the foreign policy agenda and decisions of the countries in which they are active. Paying special attention to events and phenomena that have had a decisive impact on regional and global development, this book provides an international outlook on how the activities of religious actors can influence foreign policy. The research subject was inspired by the idea of identifying what dynamics are occurring and whether there are any discernible trends.
Author: Shadi Hamid Publisher: Oxford University Press ISBN: 0190649216 Category : Political Science Languages : en Pages : 401
Book Description
For years, scholars hypothesized about what Islamists might do if they ever came to power. Now, they have answers: confusing ones. In the Levant, ISIS established a government by brute force, implementing an extreme interpretation of Islamic law. On the opposite end of the spectrum, Tunisia's Ennahda Party governed in coalition with two secular parties, ratified a liberal constitution, and voluntarily stepped down from power. In Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood, the world's oldest Islamist movement, won power through free elections only to be ousted by a military coup. The strikingly disparate results of Islamist movements have challenged conventional wisdom on political Islam, forcing experts and Islamists to rethink some of their most basic assumptions. In Rethinking Political Islam, two of the leading scholars on Islamism, Shadi Hamid and William McCants, have gathered a group of leading specialists in the field to explain how an array of Islamist movements across the Middle East and Asia have responded. Unlike ISIS and other jihadist groups that garner the most media attention, these movements have largely opted for gradual change. Their choices, however, have been reshaped by the revolutionary politics of the region. The groups depicted in the volume capture the contradictions, successes, and failures of Islamism, providing a fascinating window into a rapidly changing Middle East. It is the first book to systematically assess the evolution of mainstream Islamist groups since the Arab uprisings and the rise of ISIS, covering 12 country cases. In each instance, contributors address key questions, including: gradual versus revolutionary approaches to change; the use of tactical or situational violence; attitudes toward the nation-state; and how ideology, religion, and political variables interact. For the first time in book form, readers will also hear directly from Islamist activists and leaders themselves, as they offer their own perspectives on the future of their movements. Islamists will have the opportunity to challenge the assumptions and arguments of some of the leading scholars of Islamism, in the spirit of constructive dialogue. Rethinking Political Islam includes three of the most important country cases outside the Middle East-Indonesia, Malaysia, and Pakistan-allowing readers to consider a greater diversity of Islamist experiences. The book's contributors have immersed themselves in the world of political Islam and conducted original research in the field, resulting in rich accounts of what animates Islamist behavior.
Author: Winnifred Fallers Sullivan Publisher: University of Chicago Press ISBN: 022624850X Category : Law Languages : en Pages : 361
Book Description
Religious freedom has achieved broad consensus as a condition for peace. Faced with reports of a rise in religious violence and a host of other social ills, public, and private actors have responded with laws and policies designed to promote freedom of religion. But what precisely is being promoted? What are the assumptions underlying this response? The contributions to this volume unsettle the assumption that religious freedom is a singular achievement and that the problem lies in its incomplete accomplishment. Delineating the different conceptions of religious freedom predominant in the world today, as well as their histories and political contexts, the contributions make clear that the reasons for violence and discrimination are more complex than is widely acknowledged. The promotion of a single legal and cultural tool meant to address conflict across a wide variety of cultures can have the perverse effect of exacerbating the problems that plague the communities often cited as falling short. -- from back cover.
Author: Bernard Lewis Publisher: Simon and Schuster ISBN: 1439190003 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 373
Book Description
Renowned historian Bernard Lewis charts the history of the Middle East over the last 2,000 years—from the birth of Christianity through the modern era, focusing on the successive transformations that have shaped it. Drawing on material from a multitude of sources, including the work of archaeologists and scholars, Lewis chronologically traces the political, economical, social, and cultural development of the Middle East, from Hellenization in antiquity to the impact of westernization on Islamic culture. Meticulously researched, this enlightening narrative explores the patterns of history that have repeated themselves in the Middle East. From the ancient conflicts to the current geographical and religious disputes between the Arabs and the Israelis, Lewis examines the ability of this region to unite and solve its problems and asks if, in the future, these unresolved conflicts will ultimately lead to the ethnic and cultural factionalism that tore apart the former Yugoslavia. Elegantly written, scholarly yet accessible, this is the most comprehensive single volume history of the region ever written from the world’s foremost authority on the Middle East.
Author: Elizabeth Shakman Hurd Publisher: Princeton University Press ISBN: 0691176221 Category : Political Science Languages : en Pages : 216
Book Description
In recent years, North American and European nations have sought to legally remake religion in other countries through an unprecedented array of international initiatives. Policymakers have rallied around the notion that the fostering of religious freedom, interfaith dialogue, religious tolerance, and protections for religious minorities are the keys to combating persecution and discrimination. Beyond Religious Freedom persuasively argues that these initiatives create the very social tensions and divisions they are meant to overcome. Elizabeth Shakman Hurd looks at three critical channels of state-sponsored intervention: international religious freedom advocacy, development assistance and nation building, and international law. She shows how these initiatives make religious difference a matter of law, resulting in a divide that favors forms of religion authorized by those in power and excludes other ways of being and belonging. In exploring the dizzying power dynamics and blurred boundaries that characterize relations between "expert religion," "governed religion," and "lived religion," Hurd charts new territory in the study of religion in global politics. A forceful and timely critique of the politics of promoting religious freedom, Beyond Religious Freedom provides new insights into today's most pressing dilemmas of power, difference, and governance.
Author: Timothy Samuel Shah Publisher: OUP USA ISBN: 0199827974 Category : Political Science Languages : en Pages : 330
Book Description
In recent years, the role of religion in the study and conduct of international affairs has become increasingly important. The essays in this volume seek to question and remedy the problematic neglect of religion in extant scholarship, grappling with puzzles, issues, and questions concerning religion and world affairs in six major areas. Contributors critically revisit the "secularization thesis," which proclaimed the steady erosion of religion's public presence as an effect of modernization; explore the relationship between religion, democracy, and the juridico-political discourse of human rights; assess the role of religion in fomenting, ameliorating, and redressing violent conflict; and consider the value of religious beliefs, actors, and institutions to the delivery of humanitarian aid and the fostering of socio-economic development. Finally, the volume addresses the representation of religion in the expanding global media landscape, the unique place of religion in American foreign policy, and the dilemmas it presents. Drawing on the work of leading scholars as well as policy makers and analysts, Rethinking Religion and World Affairs is the first comprehensive and authoritative guide to the interconnections of religion and global politics.
Author: Michael Herz Publisher: Cambridge University Press ISBN: 1107375614 Category : Law Languages : en Pages : 569
Book Description
The contributors to this volume consider whether it is possible to establish carefully tailored hate speech policies that are cognizant of the varying traditions, histories and values of different countries. Throughout, there is a strong comparative emphasis, with examples (and authors) drawn from around the world. All the authors explore whether or when different cultural and historical settings justify different substantive rules given that such cultural relativism can be used to justify content-based restrictions and so endanger freedom of expression. Essays address the following questions, among others: is hate speech in fact so dangerous or harmful to vulnerable minorities or communities as to justify a lower standard of constitutional protection? What harms and benefits accrue from laws that criminalize hate speech in particular contexts? Are there circumstances in which everyone would agree that hate speech should be criminally punished? What lessons can be learned from international case law?
Author: Sanja Kelly Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers ISBN: 1442203978 Category : Political Science Languages : en Pages : 606
Book Description
Freedom HouseOs innovative publication WomenOs Rights in the Middle East and North Africa: Progress Amid Resistance analyzes the status of women in the region, with a special focus on the gains and setbacks for womenOs rights since the first edition was released in 2005. The study presents a comparative evaluation of conditions for women in 17 countries and one territory: Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Palestine (Palestinian Authority and Israeli-Occupied Territories), Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. The publication identifies the causes and consequences of gender inequality in the Middle East, and provides concrete recommendations for national and international policymakers and implementers. Freedom House is an independent nongovernmental organization that supports democratic change, monitors freedom, and advocates for democracy and human rights. The project has been embraced as a resource not only by international players like the United Nations and the World Bank, but also by regional womenOs rights organizations, individual activists, scholars, and governments worldwide. WomenOs rights in each country are assessed in five key areas: (1) Nondiscrimination and Access to Justice; (2) Autonomy, Security, and Freedom of the Person; (3) Economic Rights and Equal Opportunity; (4) Political Rights and Civic Voice; and (5) Social and Cultural Rights. The methodology is based on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the study results are presented through a set of numerical scores and analytical narrative reports.
Author: Elizabeth Shakman Hurd Publisher: Princeton University Press ISBN: 1400828015 Category : Political Science Languages : en Pages : 261
Book Description
Conflicts involving religion have returned to the forefront of international relations. And yet political scientists and policymakers have continued to assume that religion has long been privatized in the West. This secularist assumption ignores the contestation surrounding the category of the "secular" in international politics. The Politics of Secularism in International Relations shows why this thinking is flawed, and provides a powerful alternative. Elizabeth Shakman Hurd argues that secularist divisions between religion and politics are not fixed, as commonly assumed, but socially and historically constructed. Examining the philosophical and historical legacy of the secularist traditions that shape European and American approaches to global politics, she shows why this matters for contemporary international relations, and in particular for two critical relationships: the United States and Iran, and the European Union and Turkey. The Politics of Secularism in International Relations develops a new approach to religion and international relations that challenges realist, liberal, and constructivist assumptions that religion has been excluded from politics in the West. The first book to consider secularism as a form of political authority in its own right, it describes two forms of secularism and their far-reaching global consequences.
Author: Adam Scott Crawford
Author: Adam Scott Crawford
Author: Maria Toropova
Author: Shadi Hamid
Author: Winnifred Fallers Sullivan
Author: Bernard Lewis
Author: Elizabeth Shakman Hurd
Author: Timothy Samuel Shah
Author: Michael Herz
Author: Sanja Kelly
Author: Elizabeth Shakman Hurd