Islam in International Affairs

This edited volume presents Islam as a conceptualization of ideas that affect people’s thinking and behavior in their capacity to relate with IR as both discipline and practice. Islam is not conceived and studied simply in theological terms, but analyzed from different viewpoints that engage with a wide range of analytical tools offered by the political sciences, social sciences, and Islamic Studies. The book challenges the established Western-based and defined epistemological and ontological foundations of the discipline, substantially contributing to worlding IR as a field of study and international relations as a field of practice by presenting and discussing a broad range of standpoints from within the Islamic civilization and the Muslim world, and offering critical analyses regarding current Muslim affairs. The different chapters provide perspectives on Islam’s relation with other non-Western IR outlooks by way of contrast and comparison with alternative understandings of IR from outside the West.

This book consists of three parts: Part I addresses the applicability of Western IR to Islam; Part II showcases Islam as a paradigm and approach to the study of the ‘international’; and Part III features ISIS as a case study, presenting it as a conundrum where its position is analyzed between Islam and IR. This comprehensive collection will be of great interest to students, scholars and policy-makers with a focus on the Muslim world.

Nassef Manabilang Adiong is a student of comparative study between Islam and IR, with research interests in nation-state, civilization, and the Bangsamoro. He is one of the founders of Co-IRIS (International Relations and Islamic Studies Research Cohort).

Raffaele Mauriello is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Faculty of World Studies at the University of Tehran, Iran.

Deina Abdelkader is Associate Professor of Political Science, Peace & Conflict Studies and Global Studies at the University of Massachusetts at Lowell, USA.