Publications
IIUM Journal of Economics and Management
2007, Vol. 15, No. 2
Recent developments in Islamic finance have pleasantly surprised all those involved in
the financial industry, even those working in the Islamic financial sector. More
specifically, the rapid growth of Islamic finance vindicates the aspirations of Muslims all
over the world, in particular the founding fathers of Islamic economics. However, a
critical analysis of the growth of Islamic finance indicates a contradictor development, as
in its current state, Islamic finance does not seem to share the foundational claims of
Islamic economics. This, too, despite the fact that the founding fathers of Islamic
economics, in a modern sense, aimed at creating an Islamic economic system with
Islamic finance being the operational aspect of that system. Clearly, Islamic finance was
a victim of its own success story; its rapid expansion made it grow too fast and far.
While developments in the discourse of Islamic economics have been weak, the
emerging wealth in the Muslim world, particularly in the Gulf region, forced Islamic
finance to develop beyond the framework of Islamic economics, which resulted in poor
developments in its discourse.
Kyoto Bulletin of Islamic Area Studies
2007, Vol. 1, No. 2
Islamic finance, which emerged as part of Islamic economics thinking, has gained roots
in the global financial system. While Shari'ah compliance in finance in terms of legal and
mechanical terms is essential and important, the consequences of Islamic financing is
also important, as these consequences must fulfil the foundational principles and
aspirations of Islamic economics. In this particular point, recent developments indicate
that that Islamic finance is moving in another direction towards ‘capitalism' by missing
the value system of Islamic economic theoretic. Therefore, essentialisation of Islamic
economics as a system is crucially important to locate whether it is only an approach as
expressed in the practice of Islamic finance or it goes beyond the limited understanding
of Islamic financing to a system which aims to be an alternative in terms of ‘moral
economy' (Tripp, 2006).
This paper is an attempt to discuss the systemic nature of Islamic economics, in which it
argues that Islamic economics was borne in its modern version in 1970s with an idea of
being an alternative system to the existing capitalist modes of production. In this new
discourse, Islamic economics kept the capitalist order responsible for the failure of
economic development and also of the consequences of these failure including
environmental issues; and therefore claimed to be the alternative as part of identity
politics emerged in 1970s.
The Iraq Crisis and World Order: Structural, Institutional and Normative Challenges
Edited by Ramesh Thakur and Waheguru Pal Singh Sidhu
Ehteshami, Anoush Prof. Contributor
The Iraq war was a multiple assault on the foundations and rules of the existing UN-centred world order. It called into question the adequacy of the existing institutions for articulating global norms and enforcing compliance with the demands of the international community. It highlighted also the unwillingness of some key countries to wait until definitive proof before acting to meet the danger of the world's most destructive weapons falling into the hands of the world's most dangerous regimes. It was simultaneously a test of the UN's willingness and ability to deal with brutal dictatorships and a searching scrutiny of the nature and exercise of American power. The United States is the world's indispensable power, but the United Nations is the world's indispensable institution. The UN Security Council is the core of the international law enforcement system and the chief body for building, consolidating and using the authority of the international community. The United Nations has the primary responsibility to maintain international peace and security, and is structured to discharge this responsibility in a multipolar world where the major powers have permanent membership of the key collective security decision-making body, namely the UN Security Council. The emergence of the United States as the sole superpower after the end of the Cold War distorted the structural balance in the UN schema. The United Nations is the main embodiment of the principle of multilateralism and the principal vehicle for the pursuit of multilateral goals. The United States has global power, soft as well as hard; the United Nations is the fount of international authority. Progress towards a world of a rules-based, civilized international order requires that US force be put to the service of lawful international authority. This book examines these major normative and structural challenges from a number of different perspectives
China Factors: Political Perspectives and Economic Interactions
China Factors offers a first-hand perspective on political and socio-economic changes in Hong Kong after the official changeover to control by China. It reflects the author's observations, personal encounters, interviews, and experiences, especially after 1997 when the changeover occurred, and also when the Asian financial crisis emerged.
The focus here is on the political economy of Greater China (China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong). The author witnessed the subtle political and economic changes in Hong Kong during the period, and the clear and present influence of China on Hong Kong as well as Taiwan. China Factors illustrates the full import of the rise of China, and the impact of political, social, and economic relations around Greater China.
Britain, Germany and the future of the European Union
Britain, Germany and the Future of the European Union outlines the changes in British and German European policies which have been characteristic of a process of normalization in
both countries. Schweiger examines possible areas for cooperation
between Britain and Germany on major European issues (institutional and
procedural reform, EMU, economic reform, CFSP and enlargement) and the
potential significance that such a working partnership could have
within the enlarged European Union.
Communists and British Society 1920-1991
Kevin Morgan, Gidon Cohen and Andrew Flinn
Communists and British Society
provides a study in the phenomenon of political radicalisation and
presents a view of a party populated by women and men of all classes
and colours to uncover the warmth, the humour and the human frailty of
diverse groups of courageous individuals held togetrher by a
common vision.Making innovative use of gender, generation, mobility and
ethnicity, and drawing on a range of sources unparrelled for any other
British political party, the book offers an insight into the
complexities of political activism and into one of the most
extraordinary of the @ernest minorities' that have ngaged in it.
Vietnam in Iraq
Edited by David Ryan and John Dumbrell
More than most post-1970 conflicts involving US forces, the conflict in Iraq has been fought out against a background of frequently invoked memories from the era of the Vietnam War. The essays in this book offer a series of perspectives on connections and parallels between the Vietnam War and the 2003 invasion of, and current conflict in, Iraq.
The contributors particularly examine the impact of the Vietnam analogy on the War in Iraq, assessing the military tactical lessons learned from the Vietnam War and exploring the influence and persistence of its legacy in US politics, culture and diplomacy. The volume holds up to original interrogation some commonly held assumptions about historical analogy and several distinguished authorities on the Vietnam War era, in particular, offer their thoughts on the value and applicability of Vietnam-Iraq parallels. If most contributions point out some obvious dissimilarities between the two eras, notably the transformed post-Cold War international environment, the similarities, particularly those relating to the problems of cultural misunderstanding, are also apparent.
Vietnam in Iraq will be of great interest for all students and researchers of the Iraq War, strategic studies, international relations and American politics.
Globalisation and Geopolitics in the Middle East: Old Games New Rules
Anoushiravan Ehteshami (12/04/2007)
Examining globalization in the Middle East, this book provides a much needed 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 today.
Written by a well-known authority in this area, this book demonstrates that, unlike in other regions, such as East Asia, geopolitics has been a critical factor in driving globalization in the Middle East. The author argues that whereas elsewhere globalisation has opened up the economy, society, culture and attitudes to the environment; in the Middle East it has had the opposite effect, with poor state formation, little interregional trade, foreign and interregional investment, and reassertion of traditional identities.
This book explores the impact of globalization on the polities, economies and social environment of the greater Middle East, in the context of the region's position as the central site of global geopolitical competition at the start of the twenty-first century.
Ahmed El-Ashker and Rodney Wilson
Islamic Economics. A short history
The study covers Muslim economic thought from the emergence of Islam, long before economics became a separate discipline with distinctive analytical tools. The economic environment in ancient Arabia from which Islam emerged is examined, and the economic concepts in the Qur'ān and Sunnah are discussed, as well as the thinking of early Muslim jurists. Detailed consideration is given to Islamic economic thought during the dynasties of the Umayyads and the Abbasids, periods of administrative and economic reform, as well as of much latter developments under the Ottomans, Safawids and Moghuls. Islamic revivalist reform movements are appraised, as these predated the reawakening of interest in Islamic economics in the last century, and subsequent profusion of writing, with the works of the leading contributors reviewed in this volume.
Iran and the Rise of its neoconservatives: The Politics of Tehran's Silent Revolution
Anoush Ehteshami, Mahjoob Zweiri
