Religion and Politics in the World's Hot Spots

Religion and Politics in the World's Hot Spots provides an excellent introduction to the interplay between religion and politics in those nations where political and religious actors attempt to influence, control, or suppress each other by public pressure, laws, or violence. The author takes his readers behind the headlines to understand the deep cultural and political motives behind the tensions in China, India, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Palestine, Turkey, Europe, Nigeria, and North America. The histories that lie underneath those tensions are thoroughly explored, and each chapter concludes with an analysis from several different theoretical perspectives that help us better understand these hot spots. The publication of Religion and Politics in the World's Hot Spots heralds a post-secular approach to the complex relationship between religion and politics in a truly historic, comprehensive, and cosmopolitan way. This book will open new portals that, once entered, will renew and deepen the study of both disciplines and more adequately prepare students to engage and understand, as thoughtful citizens, the world in which they live. -Ron Dart, University of the Fraser Valley