Globalization Challenged: Conviction, Conflict, Community

In Globalization Challenged, George Rupp outlines the steps necessary to engage the contemporary conflict between traditional religious belief and Western secularism. Though he acknowledges the threat of "resurgent fundamentalism," Rupp also criticizes secularists who fail to allow for the role of religion and its ideological equivalents to influence public policy. Rupp reinforces his argument with dramatic accounts of recent events in Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Sudan. He focuses on the ways local conflicts fuel instability worldwide, even as the processes of globalization at times accentuate those conflicts. Essential reading for understanding the roots of today's geopolitical tensions, Globalization Challenged asks that we shed our complacency, recognize the legitimate role of conviction, and affirm a sense of community that extends from the very particular to the more and more inclusive.

George Rupp is the president of the International Rescue Committee, an agency that provides assistance to refugees around the world. He is the former president of Columbia University and Rice University and the author of numerous articles and four previous books, including Beyond Existentialism and Zen: Religion in a Pluralistic World and Commitment and Community.