The Islamic World in the New Century

Heads of international organizations occasionally publish books on their experience in office. But rarely do they do so while still in office. This book, authored by the Secretary General of Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu, about the OIC belongs to this rare category. Writing about the office while in office is a double-edged sword. It is certainly an asset: İhsanoğlu is able to provide details about the organization’s bureaucracy and recent reforms. Likewise, it is also a vulnerability: He seems to hold back his criticism of member states and glosses over states’ conflicting interests with each other and with the OIC.

Like the rare and dual nature of İhsanoğlu’s attempt, so too is the OIC. Its religious-based membership criteria and claim to represent the solidarity of 1.5 billion Muslims worldwide make it unique. Yet with 57 member-states, all jealously guarding their sovereignty, the OIC also looks like a typical intergovernmental organization. The book details the OIC secretariat’s struggle to balance the demands of popular Muslim expectations and the reluctance of the member states to support the OIC politically and materially. Caught between a rock and a hard place, the OIC tends to defer to the member- states and generally limits itself to advancing its member-states’ interests in international society.