Introduction: thinking about Islam and politics in global perspective -- Islam and politics: history and key concepts -- State formation and the making of Islamism -- Islam in the system: the evolution of Islamism as political strategy -- Islam as the system: Islamic states and Islamization from above -- Islam for lack of a system: Islamism in weak and failed states -- Radical Islamism and jihad beyond the nation-state -- Muslim transnationalism: brotherhoods, networks diasporas -- Who speaks for Islam? religious authority in the global Umma -- Beyond Islamism: globalization and Muslim politics -- Appendix: key economic & political indicators for Muslim countries