Islamic Exceptionalism: How the Struggle Over Islam is Reshaping the World

July 27, 2016 - The Middle East Institute (MEI) hosted Shadi Hamid (Brookings Inst.), Nathan Brown (George Washington Univ.) and Hassan Mneimneh (MEI) for a discussion about how Islam shapes public life, law, and the state. The conversation explored and challenged the thesis behind Hamid's new book, "Islamic Exceptionalism: How the Struggle Over Islam is Reshaping the World." In Islamic Exceptionalism, Hamid argues that Islam is distinctive among the world's cultural systems in how it conceives religion and politics as intertwined. In this exceptionalism he sees an intrinsic resistance to secularization, with profound implications for how the West can interact with the Middle East. The panelists addressed Hamid's provocative thesis and offered their own analyses of Islam's relationship with politics. Sumaiya Hamdani (George Mason Univ.) moderated the discussion.