The Universal Hunger for Liberty: A Surprising Look Ahead at the Culture, Economics, and Politics of the 21st Century by Michael Novak

From the Publisher

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.

Publishers Weekly

The desire for and pursuit of liberty is a key thread in both human and intellectual history, argues Novak (Business as a Calling), who goes on to say that despite the relative lack of liberty in the Muslim world, the concept of liberty has deep roots in Islam. This familiar topic is worthy of development, but unfortunately Novak shies away from addressing it in full until toward the book's end. The intellectual bulk of the book lies in his assessment of the philosophical, theological and economic values that drive liberal democratic capitalism. Novak, also the author of The Spirit of Democratic Capitalism, shines when fleshing out these concepts, including "moral ecology" (the way in which our surroundings influence and inform our sense of moral vision), using it as a way to engage the much-debated "clash of civilizations." Novak is particularly keen in his discussions of theology and gauging the extent to which religion will play an increasingly large role in world affairs during the 21st century. He cogently compares Catholicism's relative incorporation of democracy to the differing applications of Islamic law today. Ranging widely, Novak has a tough time developing some of his most relevant and provocative concepts, but offers a nicely contoured overview. (Sept. 20) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

Inside every Viet Cong, the Marines used to say, there's an American screaming to get out. Well, mightn't that be true of Baathists and mujahedeen and fedayeen, too?Thinking most wishfully, neocon think-tank denizen Novak (The Catholic Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, 1993, etc.) posits that the innermost desire of most inhabitants of the Muslim world is to find "an alternative to terror." Behold that alternative, writes Novak: "It is called, in the political order, democracy. In the economic order it is called the dynamic enterprise economy." Elsewhere it's called the new world order, but no matter: Novak would seem to subscribe to the view that the only thing keeping people from being free are shackles on their marketplaces, shackles that prevent those people from fleeing the jailhouse of poverty. Novak is just warming up, offering a spirited defense of capitalism-and a spirited attack on anti-capitalism that does a nice job of turning the tables, maintaining that disdain for individual control over social means of production is really an aristocratic prejudice that "carries with it a profound contempt for business, businessmen, and a capitalist way of life." Well, yes, but word up: Islam has some of that prejudice, too, courtesy of prohibitions on loaning money at interest, the heart of the capitalist enterprise. No matter, Novak argues. If the Catholic Church could shed at least some of its dislike of capitalism-in a fine twist, he urges that Augustine would not want us to confuse self-interest and selfishness-then the anarchic nihilists of the Wahhabi conspiracy might just do so, too. And never mind the holdouts: "Many more than nine of every ten Muslims prefer a world of personaldignity and prosperity in which their rights would be protected and their opportunities for growth and advancement would become abundant."Let's hope Novak is right. Those who are convinced prima facie that he is will likely enjoy his latest; others will wonder whether the current headlines shouldn't dim his optimism just a tad. Agent: Loretta Barrett/Loretta Barrett Books

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Table of Contents