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&#160;Why does Islam play a larger role in contemporary politics than other religions? Is there something about the Islamic heritage that makes Muslims more likely than adherents of other faiths to invoke it in their political life? If so, what is it? Ancient Religions, Modern Politics seeks to answer these questions by examining the roles of Islam, Hinduism, and Christianity in modern political life, placing special emphasis on the relevance--or irrelevance--of their heritages to today's social and political concerns.Michael Cook takes an in-depth, comparative look at political identity, social values, attitudes to warfare, views about the role of religion in various cultural domains, and conceptions of the polity. In all these fields he finds that the Islamic heritage offers richer resources for those engaged in current politics than either the Hindu or the Christian heritages. He uses this finding to explain the fact that, despite the existence of Hindu and Christian counterparts to some aspects of Islamism, the phenomenon as a whole is unique in the world today. The book also shows that fundamentalism--in the sense of a determination to return to the original sources of the religion--is politically more adaptive for Muslims than it is for Hindus or Christians.A sweeping comparative analysis by one of the world's leading scholars of premodern Islam, Ancient Religions, Modern Politics sheds important light on the relationship between the foundational texts of these three great religious traditions and the politics of their followers today.TABLE OF CONTENTS:Preface xiPart One: IdentityIntroduction to Part One 11 Islam and Identity 31. Introduction 32. Pre-modern ethnic identity: Turks and Trojans 33. Pre-modern ethnic identity: the Islamic factor 84. Eighteenth-century Identity politics 185. Pre-modern Muslim identity: formation and decay 206. The residue of Muslim identity on the eve of modern times 237. Modern ethnic and Muslim identity: expectations 328. Modern ethnic and Muslim identity: realizations 359. Muslim identity and geopolitics 4710. Conclusion 512 Hinduism and identity 531. Introduction 532. The weakness of pre-modern ethnic and Hindu identity 543. Aspects of Hindu coherence 614. Modern ethnic and Hindu identity 715. Rallying Hindus against Muslims 916. What are the Hindu nationalists? 1037. Conclusion 1203 Catholicism and identity in Latin America 1231. Introduction 1232. The Virgin of Guadalupe 1233. High expectations 1264. Low realizations 1345. Explaining the gap 1406. Conclusion 154Conclusion to Part One 156Part Two: ValuesIntroduction to Part Two 1594 Society 1651. Introduction 1652. Islam 1673. Hinduism 1914. Latin American Catholicism 1995. Religious elites 2116. Conclusion 2135 Warfare 2151. Introduction 2152. Islam 2183. Hinduism 2344. Latin American Catholicism 2415. Conclusion 2466 Divine jealousy 2491. Introduction 2492. Islam 2513. Hinduism 2824. Latin American Catholicism 2975. Conclusion 3077 Polity 3091. Introduction 3092. Islam 3093. Hinduism 3364. Latin American Catholicism 3445. Conclusion 357Conclusion to Part Two 361Part Three: FundamentalismIntroduction to Part Three 3718 Islam and fundamentalism 3771. Introduction 3772. Form 3773. Substance: identity 3864. Substance: values 3895. Fundamentalism, conservatism, and modernism 3936. Conclusion 3979 Hinduism and fundamentalism 3991. Introduction 3992. Form 4003. Substance: identity 4094. Substance: values 4115. Fundamentalism, conservatism, and modernism 4146. Conclusion 42910 Latin American Catholicism and fundamentalism 4311. Introduction 4312. Form 4313. Substance 4344. Fundamentalism, conservatism, and modernism 4385. Conclusion 439Conclusion to Part Three 440Afterword 4431. Looking back 4432. Looking ahead 456 Voir sur le site de l'éditeur