Graham E. Fuller

I must confess I approached this work with a bit of scepticism, expecting that a rosy picture would be given, and any problems swept under the rug. However, it turned out to be a well-argued thesis that the problems between the West and the Islamic world are relatable to a larger set of differences and antagonisms that have to do with geo-political tensions from way back in history e.g. between Rome and Byzantium (Constantinople), rather than with any specific quirks of the religion itself. Indeed, the author argues that even without Islam, there would probably still be these tensions between the West and the East (the Rest?), if nothing else between Western (Roman, Catholic) Christianity and Eastern (Greek, Orthodox, Russian) Christianity. Of special interest to me as a reader from India, are the chapters on Islam and Russia, Islam and China, and Islam and India (the last a region that rarely figures in international accounts). On the whole, this is a book that throws a fresh and self-revealing light on the phenomenon of Islamic and other fundamentalisms, and should be of great help in approaching the present-day 'fault-lines' in international relations. However, I could not help feeling that the author ended up sounding a bit disingenuous toward the end, by throwing the entire burden of accommodation on forces outside the Muslim world. Perhaps a better understanding can be aided by comparing with other world religions apart from Christianity, especially the way Buddhism has spread and held its place in different polities. "Just sayin'".… (meer)