Winds of Change: The Challenge of Modernity in the Middle East and North Africa

Recent developments in the Middle East and North Africa have radically destabilised the region, which is beset with rising religious and political tensions, sectarian conflict and terrorism. Though in crisis and suffering from a paralysis of will, the region is also vastly rich in culture, and vital for the stability of the international order. There is an urgent need for an accurate understanding of these complex developments. What does the future hold for this geopolitically critical region?

In this vital, multidisciplinary volume, leading Middle Eastern and Western scholars present constructive, long-term solutions to endemic sociocultural, economic and political issues facing the MENA region – issues that require a fundamental transformation of the current system of values and patterns of thought. They offer expert analysis on critical facets of the region, including globalisation, the environment and sustainability, education, nonviolence, human rights, inter-religious coexistence, Islamic social principles, and Qur’anic ethics.

Enriching our understanding of the contemporary affairs of the MENA region, Winds of Change is essential reading for achieving peace, socio-cultural progress and prosperity in the region.

Dr Behrooz Sabet is a renowned scholar of religion, contemporary political thought and movements in Iran, and the conceptual and historical origins of modernity and its impact on Islam and Middle Eastern societies. He was previously a university professor, academic dean and consultant on aspects of education and culture in the Middle East. Sabet has translated and written extensively on religious, ethical, educational, philosophical and social themes. He holds a doctorate from the State University of New York at Buffalo.


Cyrus Rohani is an advisor on social and economic development, and a management and education consultant. He studied at the American University of Beirut and later received an MBA from Sacred Heart University, Connecticut, USA. He worked with Shell-Qatar and later with Qatar Petroleum (oil & Gas). Rohani has given presentations in international conferences and is widely known as a pioneering figure in living and exploring the Middle Eastern cultures and religions.


Christopher Buck is an independent scholar and attorney. He publishes broadly in American studies, religious studies, Baha’i studies, Islamic studies, African American studies and Native American studies. A former university professor, Dr Buck previously taught at Pennsylvania State University (2011), Michigan State University (2000–2004), Quincy University (1999–2000), Millikin University (1997–1999) and Carleton University (1994–1996). Buck is now faculty at the Wilmette Institute, having taught/co-taught seventeen online courses since 2010. His publications include God and Apple Pie (2015); Alain Locke: Faith and Philosophy (2005); Paradise and Paradigm (1999); Symbol and Secret (1995/2004); and Religious Celebrations (co-author, 2011). Buck has published various journal and encyclopaedia articles as well, along with over 100 brief articles on the Baha’i Faith. Buck currently practises law as a plaintiff’s attorney in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he lives.


Arthur Lyon Dahl is a biologist (AB, Biological Sciences, Stanford University; PhD, Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara) and environmentalist with fifty years’ international experience in environment and sustainability. He is a retired Deputy Assistant Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), where he was Deputy Director of the Oceans and Coastal Areas Programme, and Coordinator of the UN System-wide Earthwatch. He is a consultant on sustainability indicators and assessment to the World Bank, the World Economic Forum, UNESCO and UNEP. He was a Visiting Professor at the University of Brighton, and for twelve years taught advanced studies courses in sustainable development and environmental diplomacy at the University of Geneva and other universities. He participated in the United Nations Conference on Human Environment in Stockholm, was in the Secretariat of the Rio Earth Summit (1992) to help draft Agenda 21; and participated in the World Summit on Sustainable Development (Johannesburg 2002) and the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20, 2012). He co-coordinated the UNEP Major Groups and Stakeholders Advisory Group on International Environmental Governance prior to Rio+20. A specialist on small islands and coral reefs, he spent many years in the South Pacific and organised the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP). He is President of the International Environment Forum and on the governing board of ebbf – Ethical Business Building the Future. He has published many scientific papers and books including ‘The Eco Principle: Ecology and Economics in Symbiosis’.


Nazila Ghanea is Associate Professor of International Human Rights Law at the University of Oxford. She is a member of the OSCE Panel of Experts on Freedom of Religion or Belief; serves on the Board of Governors of the Universal Rights Group and on the Editorial Board of the Oxford Journal of Law and Religion; and is an associate of the Oxford Human Rights Hub. She has authored and edited several academic and UN publications, and is the co-author of the forthcoming Oxford University Press publication, Freedom of Religion or Belief: An International Law Commentary.