Sacks (Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the [British] Commonwealth) argues for a monotheistically-based respect for difference based not on relativism but in the Orthodox Judaic concept of the covenant. The problems of global capitalism and Huntington's "war between the civilizations" are, to a large extent, due to the mistaken Platonic idea of progress from the particular to the universal. This idea rules not only economic and political affairs, but in religious terms as well, insisting on the worship of one god and one path to salvation. Instead, Sacks suggests, a Judaic case can be made for unity being worshipped in diversity. He examines how this concept can be applied in cultural, political, religious, economic, educational, and environmental spheres of life. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)