The Islamist Challenge in the Middle East and North Africa
Abstract : The Islamist movements in the Middle East and North Africa have caused a great deal of concern for many in the West, as they are seen as a monolithic, fundamental religious phenomenon run by fanatical terrorists. The fact is most Islamist movements develop along local or national lines in response to a variety of social, economic, and political problems. While Islamists do want to increase the importance of their religion in the secular sphere, it is not obvious their goals are antithetical to democracy, their own national interests, or those of the United States. Algeria and Egypt provide two interesting and different examples of the development of national Islamist movements and possible futures. Unfortunately, while it is in the United States' interest to help mediate the conflicts between Islamists and regional governments and alleviate the conditions which give rise to radical Islamism, there is actually very little that the West has the power or influence to do.
Global Islamic Politics
1. Introduction to Islam and Islamic Revivals. 2. Islam: A Vehicle for Political Action. 3. The Muslim Fundamentalists. 4. The Muslim Traditionalists. 5. The Muslim Modernists. 6. The Muslim Pragmatists. 7. Failure of Secular Ideologies and Developmental Crises. 8. Islamic Revivalism in the Arab-Israeli Context. 9. OPEC, OIC, and Islamic Politics. 10. The Islamic Revolution in Iran. 11. Islamic Revival in Central Asia. 12. Conclusion. Glossary of Islamic Terms.
Measurement and Demonstration of Thermal Expansion Coefficient
There are many classroom demonstrations, such as the ball-and-ring experiment, for showing the existence of thermal expansion of solids. The coefficient of linear expansion α (= increase in length divided by the original length times the change in temperature) may be measured in high school laboratories using a number of methods.1–4 In this paper we describe an especially simple experiment for determining α for a metal rod. It is based on the well-known optical lever method and is suitable for either a laboratory experiment or a classroom exercise.