Robert R. Bianchi is a political scientist and an international lawyer with special interests in China and the Islamic World. He received his doctorate and law degrees at the University of Chicago. He has taught at the University of Chicago, Nanjing University, Qatar University, the American University in Cairo, and the University of Pennsylvania. He is currently writing a book about China’s deepening connections with Islamic countries and their role in altering the balance of power regionally and globally. His previous books include, Guests of God: Pilgrimage and Politics in the Islamic World (Oxford University Press, 2004), Unruly Corporatism: Associational Life in Twentieth-Century Egypt (Oxford University Press, 1989), and Interest Groups and Political Development in Turkey (Princeton University Press, 1984).

Islamic Globalization examines the Muslim world's growing importance in creating a more inclusive international system that is increasingly multipolar and multicultural. The author describes an emerging pattern of Islamic globalization as a series of transformations in four interrelated areas - pilgrimage and religious travel, capitalism and Islamic finance, democracy and Islamic modernism, and diplomacy and great power politics. The book integrates the disciplines of religion, politics, economics, law, and international relations highlighting developments in the Middle East, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and Africa. It provides new insights into the rapidly growing ties between China and the Islamic world, exploring their likely impact on the balance of power in Eurasia and beyond.