Islam and political violence : Muslim diaspora and radicalism in the West

How do we engage with the pressing challenges of xenophobia, radicalism and security in the age of the "war on terror"? The widely felt sense of insecurity in the West is shared by Muslims both within and outside Western societies. Growing Islamic militancy and resulting increased security measures by Western powers have contributed to a pervasive sense among Muslims of being under attack (both physically and culturally). Islam and Political Violence brings together the current debate on the uneasy and potentially mutually destructive relationship between the Muslim world and the West and argues we are on a dangerous trajectory, strengthening dichotomous notions of the divide between the West and the Muslim world.

East and West, past and present : rekindle old principles for new management practices

This paper explores the sayings and stories of the ancient Chinese philosophers Guanzi, Hanfeizi, Xunzi and Yanzi. Their way of ruling the state and managing the people are analysed and discussed in line with thoughts from the mainstream and modern Western management gurus, such as Warren Bennis, Peter Drucker, Mary Parker Follett, Douglas McGregor, Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Elton Mayo, and Jeffrey Pfeffer. Striking similarities call for addressing key issues in human resource management. East and west thinkers across 3000 years are identified. The principles-based ruling and management were found difficult to be taken seriously in ancient times as it is today. However, these principles must be rekindled to protect organisations and the world from mischievous behaviour that has caused much human suffering.

Afghanistan? Somewhere west of India isn't it?

For more than 10 years the senior co-author has been regularly testing tertiary journalism students on their "News Geography" - the ability to accurately locate on a world map 10 countries that had been in the news at the time, or with which Australia has or has had a bond. His co-author joined him in 1997 to compare results from two universities, Charles Sturt and Western Sydney. They joined forces again in 2002 to compare the geographic knowledge of first-year journalism students at Queensland University of Technology with that of senior students at the University of Queensland. The most surprising result was that despite "The War on Terror", and Australia's involvement, relatively few could accurately locate Afghanistan. For several years the senior co-author has also tested first-year journalism students' knowledge of a series of figures and statistics that give a barometer of the Australian and world economies. The latest monetary exchange rates, gold and oil prices and national and state unemployment rates are used to test students' knowledge of the various statistics journalists regularly rely on as indicators of economic movements. The authors also combined in 2002 to test students at QUT and UQ on this knowledge.