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Can Islamic societies embrace democracy? This book maintains that it is possible, demonstrating that Islam is not inherently hostile to the idea of democracy. Rather, it provides new perspective on how such a political and social transformation could take place, arguing that the key to understanding the integration of Islam and democracy lies in concrete social institutions rather than pre-conceived ideas, the everyday experiences rather than abstract theories. The book provides a rare inside look into Iran, offering a deep understanding of how Islamic countries like Iran and Iraq can and will embrace democracy. It challenges readers to think about Islam and democracy critically and in a far more nuanced way than is done in black-and-white dichotomies of Islam versus Democracy or Iran versus the West. The book contributes important insights to current discussions, creating a more complex conception of modernity in the Eastern world and, with it, offers to a broad Western audience a more accurate, less clichéd vision of Iran's political reality.

From the American and British counter-insurgency in Iraq to the bombing of Dresden and the Amristar Massacre in India, civilians are often abused and killed when they are caught in the cross-fire of wars and other conflicts. This book examines how leaders in democracies manage the blame for the abuse and the killing of civilians, arguing that politicians are likely to react in a self-interested and opportunistic way and seek to deny and evade accountability. Using empirical evidence from well-known cases of abuse and atrocity committed by the security forces of established, liberal democracies, the book shows that self-interested political leaders will attempt to evade accountability for abuse and atrocity, using a range of well-known techniques including denial, delay, diversion, and delegation to pass blame for abuse and atrocities to the lowest plausible level. It argues that, despite the conventional wisdom that accountability is a “central feature” of democracies, it is only a rare and courageous leader who acts differently, exposing the limits of accountability in democratic societies. As democracies remain embroiled in armed conflicts, and continue to try to come to grips with past atrocities, the book provides a timely analysis of why these events occur, why leaders behave as they do, and how a more accountable system might be developed.

As a nation of immigrants, the United States has long accepted that citizens who identify with an ancestral homeland may hold dual loyalties; yet Americans have at times regarded the persistence of foreign ties with suspicion, seeing them as a sign of potential disloyalty and a threat to national security. This book examines this contradiction in the realm of American policy making, ultimately concluding that the relationship between diaspora groups and the government can greatly affect foreign policy. This relationship is not unidirectional—as much as immigrants make an effort to shape foreign policy, government legislators and administrators also seek to enlist them in furthering American interests. From Israel to Cuba and from Ireland to Iraq, case studies illustrate how potential or ongoing conflicts raise the stakes for successful policy outcomes. Chapters provide historical and sociological context, gauging the influence of diasporas based on population size and length of time settled in the United States, geographic concentration, access to resources from their own members or through other groups, and the nature of their involvement back in their homelands. The book brings a fresh perspective to a rarely discussed aspect of the design of US foreign policy and offers multiple insights into dynamics that may determine how the United States will engage other nations in future decades.

From September 2011 to September 2012, Ambassador Nasser Abdulaziz Al-Nasser of Qatar presided over the 66th session of the “world's parliament”—the United Nations General Assembly. It was a critical moment in international affairs as the UN responded to a range of global challenges, from the world financial crisis to the Arab Spring. This book presents a high-level look inside the organization, assessing its strengths and weaknesses, its successes and struggles. It recounts dramatic moments, such as replacing the Libyan delegation, and a tireless schedule of overseas travel, including joint visits with the Secretary-General to Libya and Somalia. The author's work takes him from major international summits such as the Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (Rio+20) to the European Parliament, which he was the first General Assembly President to address, to academic institutions from Oxford to Moscow to Morocco. The author structures the book as he did his 66th session, around four main themes or “pillars”: mediation, UN reform, natural disaster prevention and response, and sustainable development. It offers a wide range of recommendations to intergovernmental institutions, to states, to the public sector, and to individuals.