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In his new book, Islam, Authoritarianism, and Underdevelopment: A Global and Historical Comparison, Ahmet T. Kuru, professor of political science San Diego State University, shows how the problems of Muslim societies today are rooted in the alliances forged by religious and political authorities in the past. Prof. Kuru is the author of Secularism and State Policies toward Religion: The United States, France, and Turkey and co-editor of Democracy, Islam, and Secularism in Turkey. Professor Kuru (Ph.D., University of Washington) is the former director of the Center for Islamic and Arabic Studies at San Diego State University. He was a postdoctoral scholar and assistant director of the Center for the Study of Democracy, Toleration, and Religion at Columbia University. Kuru is the author of Secularism and State Policies toward Religion: The United States, France, and Turkey (Cambridge University Press), which received the book award of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion. He is also the co-editor (with Alfred Stepan) of Democracy, Islam, and Secularism in Turkey (Columbia University Press). Kuru’s articles have appeared in various journals including World Politics, Comparative Politics, and Political Science Quarterly. His new book, Islam, Authoritarianism, and Underdevelopment: A Global and Historical Comparison, has been published by Cambridge University Press in 2019. Kuru’s works have been translated into Arabic, Chinese, French, and Turkish.