The Clash of Ideas in World Politics: Transnational Networks, States, and Regime Change, 1510-2010

(Princeton University Press) In this book, Owen explains how the Muslim world is in the midst of an ideological struggle that stretches beyond the Middle East and how these struggles have been a long-time feature of international relations. Using more than 200 cases, he provides the first systematic study of forcible regime promotion, a common state practice over the past five centuries. He traces how conflicts arise and fade as one ideology wins favor with more elites in more countries, and he demonstrates how the struggle between secularism and Islamism in Muslim countries today reflects broader transnational trends in world history. Owen is an associate professor of politics at the University of Virginia.