In Islam, Authoritarianism, and Underdevelopment, Ahmet T. Kuru argues that Muslims were philosophically and socioeconomically more developed than Western Europeans between the 9th to twelfth centuries. So, why do Muslim-majority countries now exhibit high levels of authoritarianism and low levels of socio-economic development in comparison to world averages? Ahmet speaks to Janet Steele about how historical explanations link to contemporary politics.
