Cultural Forces in World Politics

Professor Mazrui, Reith Lecturer and presenter of BBC1's series The Africans, makes us reconsider the realities of power in world politics. Ali Mazrui argues that the emphasis in world politics continues to be on arms, on resources and on strategic calculations and that the importance of culture has been grossly underestimated. Professor Mazrui's own mind is a cultural cross-roads; he can give Islamic insights to Western audiences about The Satanic Verses; he relates the Beijing Spring to the Palestinian Intifada; he compares the effects of Zionism and Apartheid; he puts together Muhammad, Marx and market forces; and he tells the Americans that their attitude to the Third World is a dialogue of the deaf. ALI A. MAZRUI was Director of the Institute of Global Cultural Studies at the State University ofNew York at Binghamton and Senior Scholar in African Studies at Cornell University Kenya: EAEP