People around the world are embracing fundamentalism, a belief in the literal interpretation of holy texts and, among the more hard-line groups, the desire to replace secular law with religious law. At the same time, deadly attacks by religious extremists in India, Uganda, Somalia and Nigeria are on the rise -- and not just among Muslims. Meanwhile, political Islamism -- which seeks to install Islamic law via the ballot box -- is increasing in places like Morocco and in Muslim communities in Europe. Christian evangelicalism and Pentacostalism -- the denominations from which fundamentalism derives -- also are flourishing in Latin America, Africa, Central Asia and the United States. Ultra-Orthodox Jewish fundamentalists are blamed for exacerbating instability in the Middle East and beyond by establishing and expanding settlements on Palestinian lands. And intolerance is growing among Hindus in India, leading to deadly attacks against Christians and others. As experts debate what is causing the spread of fundamentalism, others question whether fundamentalists should have a greater voice in government.

Brian Beary -- a freelance journalist based in Washington, D.C. -- specializes in EU-U.S. affairs and is the U.S. correspondent for Europolitics, the EU affairs daily newspaper. Originally from Dublin, Ireland, he worked in the European Parliament for Irish MEP Pat 'The Cope' Gallagher in 2000 and at the EU Commission's "Eurobarometer" unit on public opinion analysis. A fluent French speaker, he appears regularly as a guest international relations expert on various television and radio program. Apart from his work for Congressional Quarterly, Beary also writes for the European Parliament Magazine and the Irish Examiner daily newspaper.