A complete history of Islamic political thought from early Islam to the present Now in its 2nd edition, this textbook describes and interprets all schools of Islamic political thought, their origins, inter-connections and meaning. It examines the Qur'an, the early Caliphate, classical Islamic philosophy and the political culture of the Ottoman and other empires. It covers major thinkers such as Averroes and Ibn Taymiyya as well as a number of lesser authors, and Ibn Khaldun is presented as one of the (...) most original political theorists ever. It draws on a wide range of sources including writings on religion, law, philosophy and statecraft expressed in treatises, handbooks and political rhetoric. The new edition analyses the connections between religion and politics, covering the most recent developments in Islamic political thought and the most recent historical scholarship. It ends with a critical survey of reformism and Islamism from the late-19th century up to the present day. (shrink)

Western Political Thought in Dialogue with Asia is a unique collection of essays that examines the exchange of political ideas between Western Europe and Asia from the Middle Ages to the early twentieth century. The contributors to the volume call for globalizing the scope of research and teaching in the history of political thought.

Early communities and states -- Egypt -- Mesoptamia, Assyria, Babylon -- Iran -- Israel -- India -- China -- The Greeks -- Rome -- Graeco-Roman humanism -- The Kingdom of Heaven and the Church of Christ -- Themes : similarities and differences between cultures -- General conclusion.

SummaryIn early and prehistoric times, human groups cooperated among themselves and competed viciously with other groups. Concepts of international relations, notably universal hegemony and exclusive nationalism, go back to the earliest recorded history. Only the ancient Greeks experienced inter-state relations somewhat analogous to those of modern Europe; and the first reflections on these may be found in Thucydides. The Greeks, and later the Romans, above all Cicero, developed a notion of cosmopolitanism. During the Latin Middle Ages, the papacy perpetuated the (...) idea of universal hegemony. The principle of state sovereignty was also formulated. The pre-modern Chinese empire was held to rule ‘all-under-Heaven’; Confucian ethics contributes the notion of humanity as the fundamental category. Muslims deepened the us–them distinction by claiming sole legitimacy for their religious community under the Caliph. Today, Muslims veer between this and a more Western approach to international relations. (shrink)

This revised and expanded edition of A World History of Ancient Political Thought examines the political thought of ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, Israel, Iran, India, China, Greece, Rome and early Christianity, from prehistory to c.300 CE. The book explores the earliest texts of literate societies, beginning with the first written records of political thought in Egypt and Mesopotamia and ending with the collapse of the Han dynasty and the Western Roman Empire.

This ambitious volume compares the development of Western and Islamic political thought. Exploring how the two traditions have both converged and diverged over time, the volume throws light on why the West and Islam each developed their own particular kind of approach to government, politics and the state, and why these are so different today.

This comparative history of political thought examines what the Western and Islamic approaches to politics had in common and where they diverged. It throws light on why the West and Islam each developed their own particular kind of approach to government, politics, and the state, and on why these approaches are so different.

This book is outstandingly important for two reasons: first, because it offers a new explanation for the uniqueness of the West, and secondly because it develops in a radical way the notion of hist...

This book examines and seeks to explain the rise of Western Christianity from the beginning to the fourteenth century. Heather begins by arguing that ‘Christendom’ as we know it would never have co...