The Universal Hunger for Liberty: Why the Clash of Civilizations Is Not Inevitable

Starting with 9/11 and continuing with the quagmire in Iraq, the West was forced to interact more fully with the civilization of Islam. In The Universal Hunger for Liberty , statesman and award-winning author Michael Novak sets forth a new model for facing this very challenge-and for healing a still violently fractured world.We will only succeed in building a more harmonious world order, Novak argues, if we embrace the fundamental role of human liberty-as conceived by our Judeo-Christian founding fathers-in bringing about historical change. Can we also find Islamic grounds for political, economic, and religious liberty -and thereby, ensure a safe future for people in all corners of the globe? For Novak, the answer is a decided yes, and this book is a bold step forward in our thinking about the role we-collectively as the United States, and individually as believers in the gospel of freedom and human rights-should play in bringing that vision to fruition. Not since his pivotal The Spirit of Democratic Capitalism has Novak made such an urgent and needed call for the importance of democracy, capitalism, and religious freedom.

Michael Novak, a former U.S. ambassador, has served under Democratic and Republican administrations. He is the author of Belief and Unbelief , The Spirit of Democratic Capitalism , and many other books. His essays and reviews have been published in the New York Times Magazine , National Review , and many others. He presently holds the George Frederick Jewett Chair in Religion, Philosophy, and Public Policy at the American Enterprise Institute. Mr. Novak lives with his family in Washington, D.C.