Papers by Deepshikha Shahi
All Azimuth: A Journal of Foreign Policy and Peace
Our basic expectations vis-à-vis ‘the international’ have turned our phenomenal existence into tw... more Our basic expectations vis-à-vis ‘the international’ have turned our phenomenal existence into two seemingly irreconcilable cognitive prisons: ‘one world’ with homogenizing propensities (dominated by the West) and ‘many worlds’ with heterogenizing predispositions (embodied by the non-West). Every so often, these cognitive prisons—oscillating between the extreme homogenizing propensities of the West and heterogenizing predispositions of the non-West— become obstacles in implementing effective global partnerships that are required to tackle the challenges thrown by global crisis-situations, e.g., the likelihoods of world war, financial crisis, climate change, pandemic, and the like. The agenda of the ‘Global IR research programme’ has emerged to demolish these cognitive prisons. To this end, this agenda finds rational support from multiple auxiliary theories that derive stimulus from hitherto denigrated knowledge-forms thriving in different corners of the world: e.g., Tianxia (all-und...
Springer eBooks, Sep 30, 2018
The academic discipline of IR has evolved along the ‘great debates’ including the rationalist-ref... more The academic discipline of IR has evolved along the ‘great debates’ including the rationalist-reflectivist debate. It is Alexander Wendt’s Social Constructivism that has plausibly tried to bridge this rationalist-reflectivist gap through a ‘middle-grounded theory’, thereby projecting the fourth great debate as rationalist-constructivist-reflectivist debate. Although these great debates help in clarifying the varied assumptions that IR scholars make in their theories, it is lamented that they contemplate less on how to explain international politics and more on the contests of a quasi-religious belief in the power of one or another ‘ism’. Against these great debates, the ‘eclectic theory’ could emerge as a more progressive pathway to capture the future of international politics. Since Kautilya’s Arthaśāstra does not subscribe to rigid oppositions between rationalist-realpolitik and reflectivist-moralpolitik, it not only absorbs a few claims of Wendt’s Social Constructivism, but also offers a fruitful ground for crafting a non-Western eclectic theory of IR that can potentially uplift both Indian IR and Global IR.
Bristol University Press , 2023
This chapter illustrates the shifts in the conventional historical trajectory of geopolitical riv... more This chapter illustrates the shifts in the conventional historical trajectory of geopolitical rivalries in South Asia by focusing on certain topical issues, for example, the Doklam standoff, Pulwama attack, Ladakh clash, Taliban takeover, arms race, trade war, pandemic blame-game, and Russia-Ukraine crisis. While these topical issues have triggered fresh patterns of quadrilateral interactions between four key (non-)state actors in South Asia, namely, India, Pakistan, China, and the US, the competitive and cooperative trends underpinning these quadrilateral interactions are difficult to fathom in terms of traditional Western-centric International Relations (IR) theories (which perceive "the international" in terms of interstate animosity, rivalry, or friendship). As an alternative to Westerncentric IR theories, this chapter employs a Global IR theory inspired by the Indian philosophy of Advaita (non-duality) to facilitate an improved investigation of these topical issues, thereby providing a novel intellectual framework to interpret the contemporary postures of US-China confrontations in world politics.
The Global IR research programme promulgates a borderless ecology of cultures that has only an in... more The Global IR research programme promulgates a borderless ecology of cultures that has only an inside without an outside. This borderless ecology of cultures reinvents the human condition (including the condition of 'the international') as perpetually interconnected at the level of consciousness. While Western-centric IR theories depend on (neo-)Kantian philosophies to emphasize the time-space bounded identities of human beings living in visibly divided phenomenal worlds, the de-Kantian philosophies of the Global IR research programme-exemplified by the Tianxia, Advaita, and Nishida Kitaro's Buddhism-inspired theories-recuperate the temporally-spatially indivisible phenomenalnoumenal flow of human life, thereby facilitating back-and-forth movement between the Westdominated 'one world' and the non-West-embodied 'many worlds'. The central objective of the book is to demonstrate how this back-and-forth movement offers opportunities to conceive of and found a new world order that recognizes the temporally-spatially indivisible human condition on earth. The book delineates a set of guiding principles to promote innovative theory-building and policy-making that transcends the geo-centric limitations of knowledge-production and knowledge-application, thereby establishing the futuristic foundation of the Global IR research programme.
E-International Relations, 2023
The ever-shifting shapes, sizes, and colours of the clouds of our earthly existence have remained... more The ever-shifting shapes, sizes, and colours of the clouds of our earthly existence have remained marked with a solid silver lining – which reaffirms that those birds that are not sceptical about their ability to fly do so defying all temporal-spatial bondages. This series (published by E-IR) showcases a glimpse of the nonchalant glide of one such ‘golden bird’ in an ‘open sky’: the golden bird is none other than ‘India’ (conserving the intellectual foundations of Indian IR) and the open sky is what we have come to acknowledge as the scholarly vistas of ‘Global IR’ (which seeks to reconcile the West–non-West binaries in theory-building and policy-making). When the feathers of the Indian golden bird were cut during British imperial rule, it led to not only the plunder of its political economy but also its deeper intellectual foundations – that is, indigenous interests, values, norms, knowledge systems, and practices. The premeditated denigration of these intellectual foundations by spreading the “twin myths of Indian isolationism and oriental despotism” by British imperialists, and, even more regrettably, the thoughtless absorption of these British-imposed twin myths by the self-enslaved Indians who were “so much beset by the disease of civilization that they could not altogether do without English education, manifested as a protracted post-colonial hangover. It is only a sustained spirit of non-scepticism that can empower IR scholars (Indian or foreign) to resurrect the untapped Indian intellectual heritage and add more feathers to this bird so that its glide goes beyond its native locality and reaches the wider skylines of globality, a globality that is not split across the geocentric borderlines of the West and the non-West, a globality that the contemporary Global IR research programme stands for in theory and practice.
E-International Relations, 2023
The academic discipline of International Relations (IR) has come a long way in the process of com... more The academic discipline of International Relations (IR) has come a long way in the process of comprehending the 'material gaps' (political and economic disparities) and 'knowledge gaps' (cultural and ideational discrepancies) between the numerous worlds geographically centred in the West and the non-West. While IR's 'rationalist science' remains overdetermined by the West-non-West material gaps, its 'reflectivist anti-science' remains overdetermined by the West-non-West knowledge gaps. But both these intellectual pathways-namely, rationalist science and reflectivist anti-science-remain fraught with a 'Kantian dualist consciousness': this dualist consciousness separates the subject/s and object/s of a knowledge-situation, thereby freezing the gaps between the subjective-experience of the West or the non-West (as theorist) and the objective-reality of world politics (as theorised). In effect, these intellectual pathways deepen the psychic distance among human beings living in different parts of the globe and solidify the imaginings of a temporally-spatially divided world. Alternatively, the emerging works on Global IR endorse a 'de-Kantian monist consciousness': this monist consciousness recovers the temporally-spatially indivisible flow of human life, thereby proposing an innovative model of theory-building and policy-making that goes beyond the geo-centric limits of knowledge-production and knowledge-application. This article aims to explain how the Indian philosophy of 'Advaita' (literally meaning 'non-duality') - as illustrated through the parable of two birds contained in the Vedic text of Mundaka Upanishad - exemplifies this monist consciousness. As this monist consciousness not only transcends the geo-centric limits of knowledge-production and knowledge-application but also gives recognition to the temporally-spatially indivisible human condition on earth, it serves as a valuable resource to enrich the 'Global IR research agenda': i.e., the research agenda that seeks to reconcile the West-non-West binaries and de-center IR knowledge. The article is divided into three sections. The first section begins with the narration of the parable of two birds with a view to clarify the monist (or non-dualist) philosophical vision of Advaita. The second section proceeds to explicate how this monist philosophical vision of Advaita surpasses the Kant-inspired theoretical frameworks of conventional Western-centric IR. Finally, the third section discusses how the de-Kantian monist underpinnings of Advaita can reconcile the West-non-West binaries and de-center IR knowledge, thereby contributing to the Global IR literature.
All Azimuth, 2023
Our basic expectations vis-à-vis 'the international' have turned our phenomenal existence into tw... more Our basic expectations vis-à-vis 'the international' have turned our phenomenal existence into two seemingly irreconcilable cognitive prisons: 'one world' with homogenizing propensities (dominated by the West) and 'many worlds' with heterogenizing predispositions (embodied by the non-West). Every so often, these cognitive prisons-oscillating between the extreme homogenizing propensities of the West and heterogenizing predispositions of the non-West-become obstacles in implementing effective global partnerships that are required to tackle the challenges thrown by global crisis-situations, e.g., the likelihoods of world war, financial crisis, climate change, pandemic, and the like. The agenda of the 'Global IR research programme' has emerged to demolish these cognitive prisons. To this end, this agenda finds rational support from multiple auxiliary theories that derive stimulus from hitherto denigrated knowledge-forms thriving in different corners of the world: e.g., Tianxia (all-under-heaven) from China, Advaita (non-duality) from India, and Mu No Basho (place of nothingness) from Japan. Nevertheless, the conditioned reflexes of many IR researchers compel them to receive the emergent knowledge-forms by correlating their 'source' and 'scope': generally, the knowledge-forms having their source in the West are granted a global scope, whereas the knowledge-forms having their source in the non-West are given a local scope; it is often suspected that the local non-Western knowledge-forms cannot grasp the larger global scenario. Philosophically, these conditioned reflexes emanate from Kantian dualism, which forms disconnected opposites of phenomena-noumena, science-metaphysics, West-non-West etc. This article reveals how the Global IR research programme-inspired by the Chinese, Indian and Japanese cosmovisions-strives to demolish the cognitive prisons of 'one world versus many worlds', thereby ensuring the prospective progressions of this research programme.
Millennium: Journal of International Studies, 2023
International Relations (IR) has long been criticized for taking a particular (Western) experienc... more International Relations (IR) has long been criticized for taking a particular (Western) experience as basis for formulating theories with claim to universal validity. In response, recent discussions have therefore centered on making IR ‘truly global’, that is, more inclusive and less parochial in its language and substance. But the concept of the global underpinning this discussion is both illusive and strongly contested. It requires problematization. But how? In this Forum, scholars discuss this question with a forward-looking agenda. Building on recent critical engagements with the question of the global as a concept in general and Global IR specifically, the authors ask how the global should be problematized in order to achieve a (more) progressive agenda for IR. They draw on different regional and disciplinary perspectives to both further the agenda of a less exclusive and racist discipline without falling into the trap of shallow inclusivity, and to discuss ways of problematizing the global without falling back into nativism or nationalism.
Oxford University Press (London), 2023
This chapter presents the seminal work of Kautilya—Arthaśāstra. The Arthaśāstra (literally meanin... more This chapter presents the seminal work of Kautilya—Arthaśāstra. The Arthaśāstra (literally meaning ‘the science of material gain’) has been unanimously accepted not only as one of the most precious works of Sanskrit literature, but also as an ancient Indian compendium of principles and policies related to political science. The historiography of Kautilya’s Arthaśāstra has provoked a fierce debate. In addition to the unsolved controversies around its chronological origins and authorship, various scholars have differently interpreted Kautilya’s writings on the role of political morality. Kautilya’s Arthaśāstra is increasingly recognized as a valuable textual resource in today’s globalized world. This chapter draws insights from the English translations of Kautilya’s Arthaśāstra to foreground its political theory. The chapter develops in three sections. Section 4.2 unfolds the ‘philosophical foundation’ of Kautilya’s Arthaśāstra. A systematic study of this foundation clarifies the moral footing of Kautilya’s political theory. Section 4.3 unpacks the structural and functional outlook of Kautilya’s Arthaśāstra. A meticulous analysis of this outlook makes obvious how Kautilya’s political theory is eclectic, as it fuses the allegedly conflicting rational/prudential and abstract/ideal concerns in politics, thereby outdoing the prescriptions of Eurocentric realpolitik. Finally, Section 4.4 inspects the position of gender and caste in Kautilya’s political theory. In so doing, it probes the gaps between Kautilya’s theoretical plan and its practical performance.
University of California Press
As per the conventional wisdom on international relations (IR), it is presumed that the pursuit o... more As per the conventional wisdom on international relations (IR), it is presumed that the pursuit of Political Realism or realpolitik calls for a rational political action which is “amoral”—either “immoral” (opposed to moralpolitik) or “neither immoral nor moral” (apathetic to moralpolitik). Also, it is held that all Asian philosophical traditions are amoral as they project a form of awareness that is inconsistent with any notions of morality or moralpolitik. However, this chapter shows how the classical Indian text of Kautilya’s Arthaśāstra uses an amoral framework—supported by the eclectic philosophical substructures of Sāṃkhya,
Yoga, and Lokāyata (literally meaning “numbers,” “aggregate,” and “worldly ones” respectively)—to not only temper apparently immoral methods, but also attain concrete moral goals in IR. In this sense, Kautilya’s Arthaśāstra deviates from both Eurocentric and Chinese Political Realism. The chapter illustrates how Kautilya’s Amoral Realism can be resourcefully mobilized to bridge the gulf between realpolitik and moralpolitik in contemporary global politics.
Strategic Analysis, 2019
This Palgrave Pivot series presents groundbreaking , critical perspectives on political theory: t... more This Palgrave Pivot series presents groundbreaking , critical perspectives on political theory: titles published in this series present influential political thinkers on a global scale from around the world, with interpretations based on their original languages, providing synoptic views on their works, and written by internationally leading scholars. Individual interpretations emphasize the language and cultural context of political thinkers and of political theory as primary media through which political thoughts and concepts originate and generate. The series invites proposals for new Palgrave Pivot projects by and on authors from all traditions, areas, and cultural contexts. Individual books should be between 25,000 and 50,000 words long according to the Palgrave Pivot format. For more details about Palgrave Pivot, an innovative new publishing format from Palgrave Macmillan, please visit www.palgrave.com/pivot. Emphases shall be on political thinkers who are important for our understanding of:-the relation between individual and society and conceptualizations of both;-forms of participation and decision-making;-conceptualizations of political deliberation and discourse;-constructions of identity;conceptualizations of the 'human condition' of politics;-ontologies and epistemologies of the political/of politics;-conceptualizations of social and political change and/or tradition; and-conceptualizations of political order, their rise and fall.
Huntington’s clash of civilizations thesis is marked by obvious limits. However, the task of high... more Huntington’s clash of civilizations thesis is marked by obvious limits. However, the task of highlighting flaws in Huntington’s thesis is not as significant and desirable as discovering an alternative theoretical framework that is more meritorious in terms of its capability to comprehend social reality. For judging the relative merits of two or more substantive theories making competing claims about social reality, Rosenberg evokes Ian Craib’s three criteria.[1] First, the theory must be based on mutuallyconsistent propositions. Second, the theory must be measured against evidence. Third, the theory must specify in more detail the causal processes at work and the situations in which the causal mechanisms come into operation. With respect to Craib’s criteria, Critical International Theory (CIT) appears to be promising.
The spectre of a clash of civilizations between Islam and the West has frequently loomed after 9/... more The spectre of a clash of civilizations between Islam and the West has frequently loomed after 9/11 and the subsequent US-led war on terrorism in Afghanistan. Ziauddin Sardar and Merryl Wyn Davies asked: “is it surprising that many in the West see today’s war on terrorism as the prelude to a renewed clash of civilizations? The question is in every newspaper and magazine. It did not need the right-wing American political scientist Huntington to pose the question – the idea has never actually gone away.”[1] William Kristol and Robert Kagan declared that post-9/11 Afghanistan was going to resemble the clash of civilizations everyone had hoped to avoid.[2] This view gained strength when the perpetrators themselves presented the 9/11 attacks as ‘jihad’, or Islamic holy war, against Christians and Jews,[3] and the then US President George W. Bush reiterated the same spirit by using the word ‘crusade’ with its connotations of a Christian holy war against Muslims.[4] The war in Afghanistan ...
The tension between theory and the ‘real world’ can produce a tendency to see the development of ... more The tension between theory and the ‘real world’ can produce a tendency to see the development of theory as a response to events in the world, with seemingly new phenomena requiring fresh theories – the most recent phenomena involving the end of the Cold War, the demise of bipolarity, and questions about the status of American hegemony. The academic discipline of International Relations (IR) awaited a new paradigm which could provide an outlook to delineate the picture of the newly emerging world politics after the end of the Cold War. Interestingly, various contending paradigms cropped up, most of these originating in the West – particularly in the US. The linkage is in fact significant as it demonstrates the knowledge-power relationship in international relations. If the US could disguise its empire building project and legitimise its aggressive foreign policy behaviour as a necessary defensive posture to contain the threat of communism and the USSR during the Cold War, it could no...
All Azimuth, 2020
The ever more global character of today's International Relations (IR) is no longer satisfied wit... more The ever more global character of today's International Relations (IR) is no longer satisfied with one-sided stories about how things have gone with either the West or the non-West. Rather, the ongoing discussions on Global IR persuade both the West and the non-West to squarely unfold their own narratives. As the theories and practices of contemporary international relations have remarkably acquired a 'Global' impetus, a lot of premium is being put on a 'dialogic approach'-that is, an approach to Global IR that insists upon a deeper two-way communicative-action between the West and the non-West. Although the dialogic approach to Global IR seeks to resolve a wide range of cognitive differences between the West and the non-West, it more often than not remains thwarted by a few unsettled contestations: (i) History vs. Philosophy, (ii) Chronology vs. Covariance, (iii) Language vs. Concept, (iv) Culture vs. Economy, and (v) Single vs. Plural. This paper sets out to shed light on these unsettled contestations in an endeavour to intellectually improve the prospects of a dialogic approach to Global IR.
One of the most commonly treaded pathways to address the widely recognized Eurocentric biases in ... more One of the most commonly treaded pathways to address the widely recognized Eurocentric biases in International Relations has been the initiation of intellectual efforts toward the incorporation of non-Western world views. However, the greater assimilation of knowledge produced by non-Western scholars from local philosophical-experiential vantage points — that is, the integration of Chinese, Indian, or Brazilian outlooks expressed under the rubric " non-Western International Relations " — cannot make International Relations less Eurocentric or more " Global " if the following slippery grounds are overlooked: (1) if non-Western International Relations theories employ non-Western philosophical resources for generating a derivative discourse of Western/Eurocentric International Relations theories, thereby failing to transcend the conjectural boundaries of Western/Eurocentric International Relations; and (2) if non-Western International Relations theories manufacture an exceptionalist discourse that is specifically applicable to the narrow experiential realities of a native time–space zone, thereby failing to offer an alternative universalist explanation that grants a broad-spectrum relevance to Western/Eurocentric International Relations. In the light of these realizations, the present article aims to explore if " Sufism " — as a non-Western intellectual resource — is capable of offering a fertile ground for crafting a non-derivative and non-exceptionalist Global International Relations theory. In order to do this, the article employs the insights gained from the poetry of a 13th-century Sufi scholar, Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī. The article draws the conclusion that Sufism, as
In contemporary Indian political discourse, the mythological dichotomy of 'durga-mahishasura' has... more In contemporary Indian political discourse, the mythological dichotomy of 'durga-mahishasura' has been misleadinglyenactedfor fanning various fiery polarities:'nationalist/anti-nationalist', 'rightist/leftist', 'brahmin/dalit' and 'goddess/sex-worker'. While thisdiscourse carves theimagery of goddess Durgaas bharatmata to epitomize a specific kind of nationalismpromoted by those Indian rightists who glorify'divine femininity' supported by a brahmanical mindset, it inadvertently stimulates an antagonistic allegory of Mahishasura– a mythical demon slayed by goddess Durga,and alsocustomarilyidol-worshipped by a few dalitand tribal communitiesin different corners of India – to portray the so-called 'anti-nationalists' who either refute the rightist vision of nationalism (including Indian leftists), or reject the depictionof sex-workers as 'demonisedfemininity' (includingseveral feminists). A further complication arises when the same normative authority of ancient Indian scriptures is speciously evoked for both justifying and condemning this confrontational discourse based on political polarities.In other words, the same scriptures are eulogized by those who morally justify this divisive political discourse, and doomed by those who ethically condemn it. Alternatively, this paper proposesthat a discursive cycle based on eulogizing or dooming of scriptures is likely to 'sustain' rather than dilute political polarities. In fact, the ability of this divisive discourse to practically deepen political polarities is strategically rooted in a flawed exposition of ancient Indian scriptures. This paper, therefore, sets out to systematically explain the philosophical distortionsinherent in the dichotomous representation of Durga and Mahishasura. In order to do this, the paper awakens the ancient Indian philosophy of Advaita(literally meaning non-dual) as an explanatory framework. Since the Advaiticphilosophy ties the diverse polarities of phenomenal reality together with a world marked with 'single hidden connectedness' or Brahman, it can offer atacticallyapt vantage point for critically appraising the hazards of this discordant political discourse. The paper is divided into three sections. The first section explicates the discursive journey of 'durga-mahishasura dichotomy'fromancient Indian scriptures to contemporary parliamentary debates. The second sectionthrows light on how the divisive political discourse strictly based on a 'mythological' reading of durga-mahishasura misapprehends ideological, gender and casteidentities. Finally, the third sectionmobilizes Advaitaas the 'philosophical' underpinning of 'durga-mahishasura dichotomy'to reinterpret the political problems emanating from divided identities. The paper concludes that the idea of 'transcending identities' inspired by Advaita is a strategically effective philosophical presumption to overcome the dangers of a divisive political discourse.
The academic discipline of International Relations in India (Indian IR henceforth) has remarkably... more The academic discipline of International Relations in India (Indian IR henceforth) has remarkably evolved along a stretched historical trajectory. This evolution can be mapped through two interrelated dynamics: (i) Institutional; (ii) Thematic. Though the gradual expansion of the institutional base and the innovative extension of thematic layers have nationally enhanced the status of this academic discipline, it is hard to justifiably claim that a sufficient amount of attention has been paid on the 'strategy of teaching' in Indian IR. In other words, the strategic importance of conjoining the 'methodology' and 'goal' of teaching remains undervalued in Indian IR. One of the consequences of this undervaluation is the scanty scholarly contribution of Indian IR to the discourses on Global IR, notwithstanding the visible institutional and thematic advancement at the national level. The present article aims to highlight the downsides of neglecting the strategy of teaching in Indian IR, thereby suggesting the potential pedagogic and andragogic pathways for overcoming them. The article is divided into three sections. The first section briefly outlines the broadening institutional grounding of Indian IR. The second section demonstrates the proliferating thematic underpinnings of Indian IR. Finally, the third section sets out to critically interrogate the disjoint between the methodology and goal of teaching in Indian IR. The article draws the conclusion that a strategic shift from pedagogy to andragogy could possibly amplify the intellectual inputs of Indian IR to Global IR.
9/11 and the subsequent war on terror in Afghanistan have severely challenged the idea of a world... more 9/11 and the subsequent war on terror in Afghanistan have severely challenged the idea of a world politics based on secular modernity. While the post-9/11 Afghan society remains troubled with the post-secular conflict between the so-called Islamic-terrorist and secular-democratic forces, the need for a ‘humanist’ political discourse that could pave the way for peace has become paramount. This paper explores the viability of ‘post-Islamism’ as an alternative humanist political discourse. It sets out to demonstrate how a post-Islamic
humanist discourse, which is defined by the dialogic process of developing a hermeneutical understanding of Islamic philosophy, has the potential to not only carve the way for peace amidst perilous entanglement between politics and religion in post-secular Afghanistan,
but also vindicate Islam of its unjustified denigration in the contemporary world.
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Papers by Deepshikha Shahi
Yoga, and Lokāyata (literally meaning “numbers,” “aggregate,” and “worldly ones” respectively)—to not only temper apparently immoral methods, but also attain concrete moral goals in IR. In this sense, Kautilya’s Arthaśāstra deviates from both Eurocentric and Chinese Political Realism. The chapter illustrates how Kautilya’s Amoral Realism can be resourcefully mobilized to bridge the gulf between realpolitik and moralpolitik in contemporary global politics.
humanist discourse, which is defined by the dialogic process of developing a hermeneutical understanding of Islamic philosophy, has the potential to not only carve the way for peace amidst perilous entanglement between politics and religion in post-secular Afghanistan,
but also vindicate Islam of its unjustified denigration in the contemporary world.
Yoga, and Lokāyata (literally meaning “numbers,” “aggregate,” and “worldly ones” respectively)—to not only temper apparently immoral methods, but also attain concrete moral goals in IR. In this sense, Kautilya’s Arthaśāstra deviates from both Eurocentric and Chinese Political Realism. The chapter illustrates how Kautilya’s Amoral Realism can be resourcefully mobilized to bridge the gulf between realpolitik and moralpolitik in contemporary global politics.
humanist discourse, which is defined by the dialogic process of developing a hermeneutical understanding of Islamic philosophy, has the potential to not only carve the way for peace amidst perilous entanglement between politics and religion in post-secular Afghanistan,
but also vindicate Islam of its unjustified denigration in the contemporary world.
This book uses a critical theoretical perspective to highlight the hidden political and economic factors underlying the so-called civilizational conflict in post-9/11 Afghanistan. It further demonstrates how a post-Islamic humanist discourse has the potential to not only carve the way for peace amidst dangerous entanglement between politics and religion in post-9/11 Afghanistan, but also vindicate Islam of its unjustified denigration in the contemporary world.