Two Worlds of Islam by Fred R. von der Mehden In the first extensive effort to assess the changing nature of relations between these two important Islamic regions, the author investigates the degree to which common religion has influenced economic ties, the extent of Southeast Asian political involvement in the Middle East and of Middle East interest in Southeast Asia, and the character and amount of foreign religious thought reaching Muslims in Southeast Asia.
The author examines Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Libya, Turkey, Syria, Iraq, Iran, the Gulf states, and Pakistan. In Southeast Asia he examines those states where most of the population is Muslim--Malaysia, Indonesia, and Brunei--as well as the Philippines, Thailand, and Burma. Von der Mehden finds that common religious ties have not brought the economic rewards Southeast Asian Muslims expected, that the character of Southeast Asian official involvement in the Middle East is heavily influenced by domestic factors in each country, and that considerably more, and more varied, Islamic religious thought has permeated Southeast Asia in recent decades.
This volume will be of primary interest to policy makers and to scholars and students of the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and international and political relations.
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"There is no book that does what this volume accomplishes. . . . [a] unique contribution . . . to scholarship regarding the political, economic, and especially intellectual influences and linkages. Fred von der Mehden is among the very few social scientists with a long, regular, and intimate knowledge of the
area."--John L. Esposito, College of the Holy Cross
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