Imagining the Islamic International Society
| DOI | 10.1177/03058298211050665 |
| Date | 01 September 2021 |
| Author | Turan Kayaoglu |
| Published date | 01 September 2021 |
| Subject Matter | Book Forum |
https://doi.org/10.1177/03058298211050665
Millennium: Journal of
International Studies
2021, Vol. 50(1) 245 –255
© The Author(s) 2021
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DOI: 10.1177/03058298211050665
journals.sagepub.com/home/mil
Imagining the Islamic
International Society
Turan Kayaoglu
University of Washington Tacoma, USA
Keywords
International Society, Islam, Hendrik Spruyt
When I first picked up The World Imagined, the cover image of the Hagia Sophia capti-
vated me. Having grown up just miles from the iconic building, the sight of the inside of
its dome flooded me with memories from my formative years. No matter how many
times I laid eyes on it, the imposing and captivating structure filled me with awe. I also
recalled the Islamists and nationalists in the 1980s who intensified their demand that it
re-open as a mosque.
Why this photo was selected for the book’s cover was not initially clear to me. The
book lacks any direct reference to the Hagia Sophia. Strange though it may be, the choice
turned out to be prescient: the Hagia Sophia emerged as a focal point of debate in 2020
as the Turkish government changed its status from a museum to a mosque, thus overturn-
ing one of the most symbolic legacies of Ataturk. That action, once again, stirred the
debates about Turkey’s national identity, torn between Kemalist secular aspirations and
the politically dominant Islamists and their nationalist allies. The action also garnered
attention in the global public sphere from many observers, from American Muslims to
Egyptian clerics and from the European Union to the Russian Orthodox Church. It turns
out that the Hagia Sophia was, after all, an apt cover photo for The World Imagined.
This review has three parts. In the first, I examine the book’s argument. In the second,
I situate it in International Relations (IR) debates about the rise of the sovereign state
system and civilisational arguments for international society. The third part assesses
Spruyt’s approach to the Islamic international society. Using the debates on the Hagia
Sophia as a case study, I caution against the use of term Islamic, discuss the various uses
Corresponding author:
Turan Kayaoglu, Division of Politics, Philosophy, and Public Affairs, University of Washington Tacoma, 1900
Commerce Street, Tacoma, WA 98371, USA.
Email: turan@uw.edu
1050665MIL0010.1177/03058298211050665Millennium – Journal of International StudiesKayaoglu
research-article2021
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