After 9/11, many Americans took the view that the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon were the leading edge of a new war: Islam versus... the West. Yet the attacks were also part of the current struggle within Islam between fundamentalist and moderate approaches and were staged for maximum effect in the Muslim world. This book is based on a special-topic issue of the American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences (Fall 2005), and brings together prominent Muslim voices from the policy and academic communities to debate the nature of moderate Islam and what moderation means in both a theological and a geopolitical sense. Participants reflect on the future of political Islam, its role in Muslim politics, western policies in the Muslim world, and the future of American-Muslim relations. This book and the debate it presents are vital to understanding these complex issues. 

In a world of multinational commerce, satellite broadcasting, migration, terrorism, and global arms dealing, what is said and how it is said in one... society can no longer be isolated from what is said and how it is said in another. Debating Muslims focuses on Iranian culture, Shi’ite Islam, and Iranians in the United States, offering an experiment in postmodern ethnography and an invitation to think in a multifaceted way about Islam in the contemporary world.

Is the American political system is inherently corrupt and inefficient? Moving beyond discussions of left versus right, Ellis and Nelson invite readers... to assess arguments in the debate over how best to fix American government.

Polls and election results show Americans sharply divided on same-sex marriage, and the controversy is unlikely to subside anytime soon. Debating... Same-Sex Marriage provides an indispensable roadmap to the ongoing debate. Taking a "point/counterpoint" approach, John Corvino (a philosopher and prominent gay advocate) and Maggie Gallagher (a nationally syndicated columnist and co-founder of the National Organization for Marriage) explore fundamental questions: What is marriage for? Is sexual difference essential to it? Why does the government sanction it? What are the implications of same-sex marriage for children's welfare, for religious freedom, and for our understanding of marriage itself? While the authors disagree on many points, they share the following conviction: Because marriage is a vital public institution, this issue deserves a comprehensive, rigorous, thoughtful debate.

The fifth volume in the Fundamentals of Philosophy Series, Debating Sex and Gender by Georgia Warnke is a concise yet in-depth introduction to... contemporary feminist thought on sex and gender. Featuring a lucid and accessible writing style, the book focuses on four historical debates: the relation and possible distinction between sex (biologically based) and gender (culturally based); questioning the binary (male-female) character of sex and gender; the idea of gender as a performance and as a performative; and the intersection of gender with race, class, and other features of identity. These discussions serve as guides for the first four chapters of the book. The fifth chapter strives to resolve the four issues by situating sex and gender within a broader theory of identity, arguing that sex and gender are ways of understanding who people are and do not define us any more than other characteristics do. Unique in its exploration of several different debates--and their relationship to each other--Debating Sex and Gender is ideal for use in a variety of feminist philosophy, women's studies, and gender studies courses.

With original contributions from some of the most prominent academics and professionals on terrorism and counterterrorism, Stuart Gottliebs debate-style... reader will compel your students to wrestle with the conflicting perspectives that define the field. Unlike other volumes in which readings talk past one another, Debating Terrorism and Counterterrorism features brief paired pro and con essays written specifically for the book that directly address the urgent questions surrounding terrorism. The essays address both theoretical questions and pragmatic concerns including: How significant a threat is nuclear terrorism? Is poverty a root cause of terrorism? Is suicide terrorism an effective tactic? Does Islam play a unique role in religious terrorism? Can the spread of democracy defeat terrorism? Must security come at the expense of civil liberties? An incisive introduction and useful chapter headnotes from the editor provide students with necessary context and prepare them to read each argument critically, allowing them to understand the past, present, and future of terrorism and counterterrorism.

Debating the American Conservative Movement chronicles one of the most dramatic stories of modern American political history. The authors describe how a... small band of conservatives in the immediate aftermath of the Second World War launched a revolution that shifted American politics to the right, challenged the New Deal order, transformed the Republican party into a voice of conservatism, and set the terms of debate in American politics as the country entered the new millennium. Historians Donald Critchlow and Nancy MacLean frame two opposing perspectives of how the history of conservatism in modern America can be understood, but readers are encouraged to reach their own conclusions through reading engaging primary documents.

Throughout the world, competing interest groups lay claim to the material remains of the past. Archaeologists, developers, indigenous 'first peoples' ,... looters, museum curators, national government officals, New Age worshippers, private collectors, tourists - all want their share. This introduction to contemporary debates surrounding their rival claims deals with defining, owning, protecting, managing, interpreting, and experiencing the archaeological heritage. Fundamental questions are considered: What is 'archaeological heritage'? Who should own and control the material culture of the past? How should these remains be protected? How should the archaeological heritage be presented to the public? Robin Skeates calls for greater communication and co-operation between archaeologists and other interest groups, urging archaeologists to increase the involvement of local people in the culturally valuable and vulnerable material remains of their past, and in archaeological research that attempts to be objective.

No other book about the civil rights movement captures the drama and impact of the black struggle for equality better than Debating the Civil Rights... Movement, 1945-1968. Two of the most respected scholars of African-American history, Steven F. Lawson and Charles Payne, examine the individuals who made the movement a success, both at the highest level of government and in the grassroots trenches. Designed specifically for college and university courses in American history, this is the best introduction available to the glory and agony of these turbulent times. Carefully chosen primary documents augment each essay giving students the opportunity to interpret the historical record themselves and engage in meaningful discussion. In this revised and updated edition, Lawson and Payne have included additional analysis on the legacy of Martin Luther King and added important new documents.

When news breaks that a convicted murderer, released from prison, has killed again, or that an innocent person has escaped the death chamber in light of... new DNA evidence, arguments about capital punishment inevitably heat up. Few controversies continue to stir as much emotion as this one, and public confusion is often the result. This volume brings together seven experts--judges, lawyers, prosecutors, and philosophers--to debate the death penalty in a spirit of open inquiry and civil discussion. Here, as the contributors present their reasons for or against capital punishment, the multiple facets of the issue are revealed in clear and thought-provoking detail. Is the death penalty a viable deterrent to future crimes? Does the imposition of lesser penalties, such as life imprisonment, truly serve justice in cases of the worst offences? Does the legal system discriminate against poor or minority defendants? Is the possibility of executing innocent persons sufficient grounds for abolition? In confronting such questions and making their arguments, the contributors marshal an impressive array of evidence, both statistical and from their own experiences working on death penalty cases. The book also includes the text of Governor George Ryan's March 2002 speech in which he explained why he had commuted the sentences of all prisoners on Illinois's death row. By representing the viewpoints of experts who face the vexing questions about capital punishment on a daily basis, Debating the Death Penalty makes a vital contribution to a more nuanced understanding of the moral and legal problems underlying this controversy.

Are democracies less likely to go to war than other kinds of states? This question is of tremendous importance in both academic and policy-making... circles and one that has been debated by political scientists for years. The Clinton administration, in particular, has argued that the United States should endeavor to promote democracy around the world. This timely reader includes some of the most influential articles in the debate that have appeared in the journal International Security during the past two years, adding two seminal pieces published elsewhere to make a more balanced and complete collection, suitable for classroom use.

Debating the Earth brings together more than 40 essential readings which illustrate the diversity of political responses to environmental issues. The... readings are organized in a way that emphasizes the differences and debates across the various schools of thought on environmental affairs. The second edition includes a new section, The Global South and Indigenous Perspectives, and offers 25 new extracts.

Do states have the right to prevent potential immigrants from crossing their borders, or should people have the freedom to migrate and settle wherever... they wish? Christopher Heath Wellman and Phillip Cole develop and defend opposing answers to this timely and important question. Appealing to the right to freedom of association, Wellman contends that legitimate states have broad discretion to exclude potential immigrants, even those who desperately seek to enter. Against this, Cole argues that the commitment to the moral equality of all human beings - which legitimate states can be expected to hold - means national borders must be open: equal respect requires equal access, both to territory and membership; and that the idea of open borders is less radical than it seems when we consider how many territorial and community boundaries have this open nature. In addition to engaging with each other's arguments, Wellman and Cole address a range of central questions and prominent positions on this topic. The authors therefore provide a critical overview of the major contributions to the ethics of migration, as well as developing original, provocative positions of their own.

The study of the presidencythe power of the office, the evolution of the executive as an institution, the men who have servedhas generated a great body... of research and scholarship.What better way to get students to grapple with the ideas of the literature than through conflicting perspectives on some of the most pivotal issues facing the modern presidency? Richard Ellis and Michael Nelson have once again assembled a cadre of top scholars to offer a series of pro/con essays that will inspire spirited debate beyond the pages of the book. Each essaywritten in the form of a debate resolution offers a compelling yet concise view on the American executive. In essays that are new to this edition, contributors debate the repeal of the 22nd Amendment, the abolition of the vice presidency, the extent to which presidential signing statements threaten the separation of powers, and whether the fighting of the war on terror should require relaxing checks on presidential power. Ellis and Nelson introduce each pair of essays, giving students context and preparing them to read each argument critically, so they can decide for themselves which side of the debate they find most persuasive.