This book is designed to analyze the complex roles which Islam plays in the formulation and implementation of the foreign policies of a number of states in which all, or a considerable part, of the population is Muslim. The countries under study are Iran, Saudi Arabia, Libya, Pakistan, Egypt, Morocco, Iraq, Nigeria, Indonesia and the soviet Union, and in each case a well known authority looks at the influence of Islam on the process of foreign policy.

There is no single and restrictive ‘framework’ which the authors follow. However, each author endeavors to delve into the domestic roots of foreign policy; to describe and explain the environment, social, political, economic and ideological, in which policy is made; to look at the policy-making structure and determine not only the key political actors, but also their attitudes, images and perceptions; and finally to see how all this results in the final stage of the foreign policy process – the implementation of policy. A concluding chapter draws the various findings together and compares the results.

This book provides a source of information and insight for readers with a serious interest in this important subject, including those in politics, international affairs and journalism. It will also be of valued to students, research workers and academics in the fields of international relations, Middle Eastern politics and modern Islamic studies.

The Islamic revolutions in Iran and its subsequent avowedly expansionist aims; the virulent resistance of the Muslim populations to the soviet invasion of Afghanistan; the assassination of Egypt’s President Sadat by and Islamic fundamentalist group opposed not only to his domestic policies, but also to his peace with Israel and his hostility to other Muslim Arabs; the clear Islamic dimensions and manifestations of the Iran-Iraq war are some of the more dramatic events that focused the world’s attention on the issues discussed in this book:  the role of Islam as a potent agent of international change.

‘Of all the recent books on resurgent Islam in world politics, this study growing out of a Chatham House project is probably the clearest and most enlightening.’  Foreign Affairs

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