International Relations Theory and the Muslim World: A Bibliometrics Analysis

Abstract

In the 21st-century era of globalization, massive military conflicts, disasters, terrorist attacks, and economic complexity that can be seen in the international financial crisis, the Muslim world should reconsider how it interacts with the rest of the world to be more consistent with changes in the global arena while remaining loyal to Islam as a religion and a way of life. Based on that, we agree this task will be challenging because international relations have been a Western-centric field since the Second World War. However, the issue's complexity is not a reason to refuse to develop a comprehensive viewpoint based on explanations and analyses of the literature on international relations, leading the Muslim world to promote a separate international relations (IR) theory in the future. In doing so, we need to review the literature in the field to introduce a comprehensive understanding of the Muslim World in international relations. In this study, the researchers will collect and refer to the major references and sources that introduce and explain the Muslim World in IR, mainly focusing on the Web of Science database. After that, the method can be figured out and explained using a few conditions that can be taken when choosing to review literature: 1) Identify articles related to the Muslim World in the IR field. 2) Highlighting

the Muslim world's scholars' and experts' understanding of international relations by referring to major issues. 3) Analysing literature evidence supporting the IR and the Muslim World using bibliometrics analysis. and 4) Reflect on the limitations of the IR theory in explaining the Muslim World, as it is mainly based on Western perspectives and thoughts. In conclusion, thinking about the limitations of theories of international relations leads us to talk about moving beyond Western Dominance in (IR) and the Islamic perspective, and how it might affect the Muslim world when dealing with international relations. The researchers believe Islamic characteristics can be a powerful alternative to current international relations theories and thoughts.