The question of whether Islam is compatible with democracy may best be answered not from the classical sources or even from the cauldron of Middle East politics but from the lived experiences of Muslim communities around the world. In large and diverse countries, the varied political values of different cultures can make or break the democratic experiment. Regardless of their cultural context, transitions from military to civilian rule require attention to the grassroots civic cultures that form the foundations of democratic federalism. John Paden, a noted expert on West African and...

This volume is an invitation to deploy high-level scholarship in a strategic policy-making process that will strengthen the unity of Nigeria. Many in the international community and within Nigeria itself assert that the country is destined for unmanageable collapse, but John Paden proposes how Nigeria can respond to its current crises and tensions in ways that will serve the interests of the state, with its diverse citizenry, as well as the world at large.

Distributed for George Mason University Press