FEAS RESEARCH E-BULLETIN FEAS E-BULLETIN DECEMBER 2016 | Page 4

Author: Adıong, Nassef
Title: Possibility of an Islamic Theory of International Relations
Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Ahmet Nuri Yurdusev
Department: International Relations
Date: April 2016
Abstract: International Relations is dominated by Western's (Euro-American) enterprise on theories,
methods, praxes and narratives. In order to have a more inclusive and truly globalized IR, it has to
substantially acknowledge diversity of existence, stories, voices, realities, cosmologies, and locally
produced knowledge systems particularly from non-Western or Global South societies. Calls for
reexamination and rethinking of its traditions of thoughts so as to accommodate changes and new issues
in the international system are highly needed. One of its explorations is the call for the possibility of
doing an Islamic theorizing about IR. Four steps were provided. First is to set up the background for
generally identifying relations among religion & IR, and of Islam & IR. Second is to analyze one of the
unit of analyses of IR, i.e. the nation-state. Its elements and constitutional cases are explored and
provided the counterpart understandings of Muslim governance. Third is a further discussion of the
element on authority by selecting four distinct Muslim scholars and decipher their conceptions on
ruling in Muslim thought. The last step is assessing a practical case of a contemporary Muslim society
in congruence with the analyses of previous steps. It concluded that the prospects of doing Islamic
theorizing about IR falls under the condition of 'pre-theory'.

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