Book Reviews

67 Journal of South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies Vol. XXXVIII, No.3, Spring 2015 Book Reviews Edited by Nadia Barsoum Middle East, South Asia, and North Africa THEORY OF WORLD SECURITY by Ken Booth, published by Cambridge University Press 2007, pp.489. Booth explores security as a precious instrumental value which gives individuals and groups the opportunity to pursue the invention of humanity rather than live determined and diminished lives. Booth suggests that human society globally is facing a set of converging historical crises. This work is a challenge both to well-established ways of thinking about security and alternative approaches within critical security studies. THE LOGIC OF LAW MAKING IN ISLAM: Women and Prayer in the Legal Tradtion by Behnam Sadeghil, published by Cambridge University Press 2013, pp.215. The book begins by creating a general model of juristic decision making that describes any legal tradition, Islamic or not, in terms of a number of parameters. A central task of the book is to determine those parameters in the Hanafi case. This is achieved through diachronic historical case studies related to laws on women and prayer. The book examines how certain Hanafi laws, and the reasons Hanafi jurists gave for those laws, evolved from the eighth century to the eighteenth century as reflected in the opinions of some thirty jurists. THE ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL AFTERMATH OF THE ARAB SPRING: Perspectives from Middle East and North African Countries edited by Carlo Altomonte and Massimiliano, published by Edward Elgar Publishing 2014, pp.235. The authors concluded that the main problems shared by all countries in the Mediterranean are the uncertain economic perspectives and the devastating job situation. The region face two key problems limited technological and innovative capacities. FAYSAL: Saudi Arabia’s King for all Seasons by Joseph A. Kechichian, published by the Florida University Press 2008, pp.291. This volume is a biography of king Faysal (1906-1975), the ruler of Saudi Arabia from 1964 until his assassination, the authors is the first to employ interviews, key archives, and recently declassified documents. Utilizing the same writing style that has earned accolades from the Economist and other publications , Kechichian offers a balanced assessment, of Faysal and his impact. 68 THE POLITICS OF NATIONALISM IN MODERN IRAN by Ali M. Ansari published by Cambridge University Press 2007, pp.327. Ansari explores the idea of nationalism in the creation of modern Iran. Ansari analyses the growth of nationalistic ideas and their impact on the state and demonstrating the connections between historiographical and political developments. The author shows how Iran’s different regimes manipulated ideologies of nationalism and collective historical memory to suit their own end. CHRISTIANITY IN ROMAN AFRICA: The Development of its Practices and Beliefs by J. Patout Burns Jr. and Robin M. Jensen, published by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.,2014 Michigan, pp.723. The authors in collaboration with others scholars using a combination of literary and archeological evidence , the volume illustrated the development of Christian practices and doctrine in Roman Africa-contemporary Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco-from the second century through the Arab conquest in the seventh century. The authors skillfully reconstruct the rituals and practices of Christians in the ancient of building and spaces where those were performed. RUSSIAN NATIONALISM, FOREIGN POLICY. AND IDENTITY DEBATES IN PUTIN’S RUSSIA: New ideological Patterns after the Orange revolution by Marlene Laruelle., published by IbidemVerlag /Ibidem Press Stuttgart, Germany 2012, pp.151. This volume examines the so called nationalist movements, the Russian authorities, and public opinion have sometimes very contradictory visions of the country’s future , but their point of view join up on a series of themes. Nationalism is, above all, an instrument geared for the Russian domestic scene. The five chapters gathered in this work discuss the new conjunctions that have emerged between foreign policy events and expressions of “Russian Nationalism”. THE EVOLUTION OF THE GLOBAL TERRORRIST THREAT: From 9/11 to Osama Bin Laden’s Death edited by Bruce Hoffman & Fernando Reinares, published by Columbia University Press, New York, 2014 pp.677. This volume investigates Al Qaeda and others related entities as they adapted to the strategies of operations enduring freedom and subsequent U.S. led global...