Editor's Shelf pictures the books as they appear on the shelf. It's more of an inventory of recent arrivals than any serious assesment of the book.

STATE-BUILDING Governance and World Order in the 21st Century, By: Francis Fukuyama, Cornell University Press,
ISBN: 0-8014-4292-3

Francis Fukuyama famously predicted "the end of history" with the ascendancy of liberal democracy and global capitalism. The topic of his latest book is, therefore, surprising: the building of new nation-states. The end of history was never an automatic procedure, Fukuyama argues, and the well-governed polity was always its necessary precondition. "Weak or failed states are the source of many of the world's most serious problems," he believes. He traces what we know and more often don't know about how to transfer functioning public institutions to developing countries in ways that will leave something of permanent benefit to the citizens of the countries concerned. These are important lessons, especially as the United States wrestles with its responsibilities in Afghanistan, Iraq, and beyond.

Fukuyama begins State-Building with an account of the broad importance of "stateness." He rejects the notion that there can be a science of public administration, and discusses the causes of contemporary state weakness. He ends the book with a discussion of the consequences of weak states for international order, and the grounds on which the international community may legitimately intervene to prop them up.

Islam in the Era of Globalization: Muslim Attitudes towards Modernity and Identity. Edited by Johan Meuleman , RoutledgeCurzon, London,  ISBN: 0?7007?1691?2

Globalization, modernity and identity are fundamental issues in contemporary Islam and Islamic Studies. Islam in the Era of Globalization present in-depth discussions of the most important questions surrounding these issues at present faced by Muslim society. The book uses both theoretical approaches and practical experiences to elaborate the core themes. The book also represents a step towards a new synthesis in Islamic Studies, namely the co-operation of scholars representing diverse disciplinary traditions and various geographical origins and specialisations, including both Muslims and non-Muslims.

Islam in the Era of Globalization reflects the wide diversity that characterises contemporary Islamic Studies. The case studies cover regions stretching from China and Southeast Asia to diaspora communities in the Caribbean and Tajikistan. There is significant participation of intellectual voices from all areas concerned, providing a real contribution to the academic exchange between the Muslim and the Euro-American worlds.

Unholy Alliance, By: David Horowitz, Regnery Publishing, Inc. ISBN: 089526076X

In this tour de force on the most important issue of our time, David Horowitz, confronts the paradox of how so many Americans, including the leadership of the Democratic Party, could turn against the War on Terror. He finds an answer in a political Left that shares a view of America as the "Great Satan" with America's radical Islamic enemies. This Left, which once made common cause with Communists, has now joined forces with radical Islam in attacking America's defenses at home and its policies abroad. From their positions of influence in the university and media culture, leftists have defined America as the 'root cause' of the attacks against it. In a remarkable exploration of the Mind of the Left, ' Horowitz traces the evolution of American radicalism from its Communist past to its 'anti-war' present. He then shows how this Left was able to turn the Democratic Party presidential campaign around and reshape its views on the War on Terror.

Horowitz's Unholy Alliance, writes John Haynes, the noted historian of American Communism, is an insightful, brilliant examination of the mental world of the radical left. Horowitz shows how today's radicals, unwilling to reflect on the internal flaws that destroyed Marxism-Leninism from within, have embraced an all-consuming nihilism in its place. This has led them to a hatred of American institutions and a solidarity with Islamic terrorists that makes the radical left more properly regarded as dangerous than loony.?

Unholy Alliance is an eye-opening book that should unsettle conventional assumptions and reveals why intellectuals and political leaders who applaud Michael Moore are no laughing matter. As Harvey Klehr, author of Venona: Decoding Soviet Espionage in America, writes, "The world Communist movement may be moribund, but its habits of mind and ideological fantasies have not disappeared. This is a fascinating and depressing account."
 

The Children of Abraham: Judaism, Christianity, Islam ,
By: F. E. Peters A New Edition with a foreword by John L. Esposito, Princeton University Press , ISBN: 0-691-12041-2

F. E. Peters, a scholar without peer in the comparative study of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, revisits his pioneering work after twenty-five years. Peters has rethought and thoroughly rewritten his classic The Children of Abraham for a new generation of readers-at a time when the understanding of these three religious traditions has taken on a new and critical urgency.

He began writing about all three faiths in the 1970s, long before it was fashionable to treat Islam in the context of Judaism and Christianity, or to align all three for a family portrait. In this updated edition, he lays out the similarities and differences of the three religious siblings with great clarity and succinctness and with that same remarkable objectivity that is the hallmark of all the author's work.

Peters traces the three faiths from the sixth century B.C., when the Jews returned to Palestine from exile in Babylonia, to the time in the Middle Ages when they approached their present form. He points out that all three faith groups, whom the Muslims themselves refer to as "People of the Book," share much common ground. Most notably, each embraces the practice of worshipping a God who intervenes in history on behalf of His people.

The book's text is direct and accessible with thorough and nuanced discussions of each of the three religions. Updated footnotes provide the reader with expert guidance into the highly complex issues that lie between every line of this stunning and timely new edition of The Children of Abraham.
 

Islam and the Challenge of Democracy, By:  Khaled Abou El Fadl Edited by Joshua Cohen and Deborah Chasman 
ISBN: 0-691-11938-4

The events of September 11 and the subsequent war on terrorism have provoked widespread discussion about the possibility of democracy in the Islamic world. Such topics as the meaning of jihad, the role of clerics as authoritative interpreters, and the place of human rights and toleration in Islam have become subjects of urgent public debate around the world. With few exceptions, however, this debate has proceeded in isolation from the vibrant traditions of argument within Islamic theology, philosophy, and law.
`aims to correct this deficiency. The book engages the reader in a rich discourse on the challenges of democracy in contemporary Islam. The collection begins with a lead essay by Khaled Abou El Fadl, who argues that democracy, especially a constitutional democracy that protects basic individual rights, is the form of government best suited to promoting a set of social and political values central to Islam. Because Islam is about submission to God and about each individual's responsibility to serve as His agent on Earth, Abou El Fadl argues, there is no place for the subjugation to human authority demanded by authoritarian regimes. The lead essay is followed by eleven others from internationally respected specialists in democracy and religion. They address, challenge, and engage Abou El Fadl's work. The contributors include John Esposito, Muhammad Fadel, Noah Feldman, Nader Hashemi, Bernard Haykel, Muqtedar Khan, Saba Mahmood, David Novak, William Quandt, Kevin Reinhart, and Jeremy Waldron.
 

Islam Is... An Experience of Dialogue and Devotion,
By: Sr. Mary Margaret Funk, Afterword Shahid Athar, M.D.
Lantern Books, ISBN: 1590560612

For the last seven years, Benedictine nun Sr. Mary Margaret Funk has engaged in interfaith dialogue with American Muslims in an effort to bridge the gaps that seem to divide Christianity and Islam. Islam Is...An Experience of Dialogue and Devotion is the fruit of her reflection on Islam, a religion that has challenged and transformed her and in which she has found startling similarities to her own deeply held Catholic practice and beliefs. She examines the controversial issues of terrorism, women?s rights and economic power, and offers Christians everywhere and Catholics in particular a way of viewing Islam that is honest and authentic. The book concludes with an afterword by Islamic scholar Dr. Shahid Athar, who dialogues with and explores Sr. Mary Margaret?s ideas.

Hindutva Politics in India : Genesis, Political Strategies and Growth of Bharatiya Janata Party, By: Geeta Puri,
 UBS Publishers' Distributors Pvt. Ltd. ,  ISBN: 817476500X

The book is a comprehensive analysis of the Bharatiya Janata Party as the major architect of the Hindutva politics and ideology since its founding in 1980.

The BJP represents two important political legacies; first the erstwhile Bharatiya Jana Sangh which was founded by S. P. Mookerjee with the support and organisational cadres of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, and second of the `emergency resistance' movement (1975-1977). This political biography of BJP depicts the various phases of organisational and ideological growth of the party.

Drawing on substantial collection and analysis of party's documents, Geeta Puri presents a thorough and gripping account of the Vajpayee-led BJP's mainstream-centrist thrusts and the Advani-led party's Hindutva campaigns. The book follows BJP through its social and geographical expansion, political consolidation and electoral victories within the broad parameters of Hindutva, ranging from the latter's crescendo state to its `soft' version. The volume also explores the political and social constraints and the ideological limits of the BJP's Hindutva politics. Geeta Puri examines the BJP's existential dichotomy between identity and power and the consequent `ideological self-betrayal' represented by `backburner' politics (1998-2004). The book analyses the BJP's inspirational, organisational and ideological relationship with the RSS and the resulting perpetual `identity crisis' of the party.

Geeta Puri underscores the negative implications of the RSS' `back-seat driving' of the BJP for Indian democracy and politics, and makes a strong case for the RSS to transform itself into a full-fledged political party. Assessing the BJP's demoralising debacle in the elections-2004, this book offers a democratic critique of the Hindutva politics and considerably contributes to our understanding of the evolution of BJP which is still struggling with self-definition.