Books in the Durham Modern Middle East and Islamic World Series series

This book focuses on Islamic family law as interpreted and applied by judges in Europe, Australia and North America. It uses court transcriptions and observations to discuss how the most contentious marriage-related issues - consent and age of spouses, dower, polygamy, and divorce - are adjudicated. The solutions proposed by different legal systems are reviewed , and some broader questions are addressed: how Islamic principles are harmonized with norms based on gender equality, how parties bargain strategically in and out of court, and how Muslim diasporas align their Islamic worldview with a Western normative narrative.

This book explores many key aspects of the globalisation process, discussing how Muslim countries are coping with the encounter with globalisation, as well as considering how the West is responding to Islam.

This book explores this phenomenon drawing on examples from the Middle East and Africa. It considers the different sorts of actors ¿ state and non-state, public and private, national and transnational ¿ which possess power, examines the dynamics of the relationships between central authorities and other actors.

Whereas most studies of Islamism focus on politics and religious ideology, this book analyses the ways in which Islamism in the Arab world is defined, reflected, transmitted and contested in a variety of creative and other cultural forms. It covers a range of contexts of production and reception, from the early twentieth century to the present, and with reference to cultural production in and/or about Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, the Gulf, Lebanon and Israel/Palestine. The material engaged with is produced in Arabic, English and French and includes fiction, autobiography, feature films, television series, television reportage, the press, rap music and video games. Throughout, the book highlights the multiple forms and contested interpretations of Islamism in the Arab world, exploring trends and tensions in the ways Islamism is represented to (primarily) Arab audiences and complicating simplistic perspectives on this phenomenon. The book considers repeated and idiosyncratic themes, modes of characterisation, motifs, structures of feeling and forms of engagement, in the context of an ongoing struggle for symbolic power in the region.

This book explores the activities of the local Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan. It examines how the Brotherhood, working to establish an alternative social, political and moral order through networks of Islamic institutions, made a huge contribution to the transformation of Jordanian society. It reveals, however, that the Brotherhood has also engaged with neo-liberal approaches to the economy, adopting a "hybridisation" of Islamism which is a collection of historically constructed practices, rather than an abstract set of beliefs. The book also illustrates how globalisation is profoundly influencing culture and society in the Arab world, though modified by the adoption of an Islamic framework.

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.

After the terrorist attacks of 9/11 in New York, and the Madrid and London bombings, Muslim communities in the West have generated security issues and political concern. This book challenges the authenticity of popular myths about the Islamic world and examines these myths as ideological cover for the "war on terror" and Iraq war.

Examining globalization in the Middle East, this book provides an assessment of the impact of globalization in the 'greater' Middle East, including North Africa, in the context of the powerful geopolitical forces at work in shaping the region.

This book explores many key aspects of the globalisation process, discussing how Muslim countries are coping with the encounter with globalisation, as well as considering how the West is responding to Islam.

Examines the currency union of the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) - Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates - which comes into effect in 2010.

Provides an assessment of relations between Iran and Europe, identifying the areas of common interest as well as the issues of conflict. This book explores historical episodes, including Iran's support of Germany in the years before the First World War and the impact of the Islamic Revolution in 1979.

Examines the history of international relations in the Gulf since the 1820s, focusing on the struggle for control over the islands of the Gulf.

This book provides a comprehensive survey of the Saudi Arabian economy and discusses the key issues concerning contemporary economic development in the country.

Eight years after the second Palestinian uprising, the Oslo accords signed in 1993 seem to have failed. This book explores one of the major aspects of the bilateral peace process - the composition and behavior of the Palestinian negotiating team, which deeply impacted the outcome of the negotiations between 1991 and 1997.

This book examines the concept of good governance and how it is applied in the states of the Gulf Co-operation Council.

The Oslo secret negotiations from 1992 to 1993 were some of the most astonishing and successful negotiations in the Middle East, leading to the mutual recognition between the PLO and Israel. This book provides an account of the Oslo negotiations, focusing particularly on the issue of non-recognition.

Presents an overview of Islamic extremism in Kuwait. This title traces the development of Islamist fundamentalist groups in Kuwait, both Shiite and Sunni, from the beginning of the twentieth century.

After the terrorist attacks of 9/11 in New York, and the Madrid and London bombings, Muslim communities in the West have generated security issues and political concern. This book challenges the authenticity of popular myths about the Islamic world and examines these myths as ideological cover for the "war on terror" and Iraq war.

Much attention in the West has focused on Iran as a problem - a potential nuclear threat, seen by George W Bush as part of the 'axis of evil', and by Barack Obama as a top priority for serious diplomatic engagement at the very highest levels. This book discusses how international relations are viewed from inside Iran itself.

As the economies of East Asia grow ever stronger, their need for energy resources increases, which in turn compels closer relations with the countries of the Middle East. This book examines the developing relations between the countries of East Asia with the countries of the Middle East. It looks at various key bilateral relationships, discusses the impact on the United States¿ hegemony in both regions, considers whether the new relations represent a contribution to, or a threat to, peace and stability, and assesses the implications of the changes for patterns of regional and global international relations systems.

"Looking at the social, political and legal changes in Oman since 1970, this book challenges the Islamic and tribal traditional cultural norms relating to marriage, divorce and women's rights which guide social and legal practice in the modern Omani state"--