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Duke University Professor Timur Kuran is an expert on the economics of the Middle East. He teaches a session on Islam and the Global Economy during the Advanced Management Program.
In his session, Kuran discusses how Islam has influenced, and continues to influence, the economic performance of the Middle East, which was once an economic powerhouse. Explaining how pre-industrial economic practices rooted in Islam inadvertently caused the Middle East to turn into an economic laggard, he also dissects contemporary efforts to restructure finance according to Islamic precepts. The Islamic innovations that he evaluates include Islamic banking, Islamic mutual funds, and Islamic mortgages.
Kuran has also been featured in journals and the media. His first book, The Long Divergence: How Islamic Law Held Back the Middle East, was recently published.
- Review essay in the Economist.
- A discussion forum for the book is on Facebook.
He has also been a commentator on the ongoing uprisings in the Arab world:
- Op-ed essay in Project Syndicate
- Video commentary about power struggles in the Muslim world