BLOG APPROACHING THE MENA REGION: BOOK REVIEWS, ANALYSIS AND MORE
Abbas Amanat is an authority in the field of Iranian historiography. A Professor at Yale University, his published work is as extensive as his experience, having been the editor-in-chief of the Iranian Studies journal. Amanat’s latest book, “Iran: A Modern History”, will certainly contribute to cement his already outstanding reputation. The 900-page long book will Continue Reading
“Making the Arab World” is a superb dual biography of two of the key figures of twentieth-century Egyptian history, Gamal Abdel Nasser and Sayyid Qutb. At the same time, however, the book written by Fawaz A. Gerges is much more than this. In his work, the Lebanese-American scholar recounts the evolution of Egypt before Nasser Continue Reading
Feb. 1, 2019, marked the 40th anniversary of the return of Ayatollah Khomeini to Iran after 15 years of exile. During the four decades that have passed since Khomeini’s comeback, numerous have been the analysts and political leaders that have forecasted the imminent doom of the Islamic Republic of Iran. In his latest book, “Iran Rising: Continue Reading
Exactly forty years ago, on March 14, 1979, the American feminist Kate Millet and her partner, the Canadian journalist Sophie Keir, did not know yet that they were about to be deported from Iran. They would be aware of this the following day, when the deputy prime minister of the Iranian interim government, Abbas Amir-Entezam, Continue Reading
How different is Tunisia when compared to other Arab countries? The answer, according to Safwan M. Masri in his 2017 book on this northern African country, is that Tunisia constitutes “An Arab Anomaly”. December 2018 will see the eighth anniversary of Mohamed Bouazizi’s immolation in Sidi Bouzid, Tunisia. Such an act of sheer desperation, whose Continue Reading
“Workers and Thieves” is the most recent book by Joel Beinin. At the same time, it is an attempt (mostly successful) to explain the specific experiences of Tunisia and Egypt within the context of the so-called “Arab Spring” in an innovative way. Beinin makes a twofold contribution to the vast literature dealing with this historical Continue Reading
Medea Benjamin is the celebrated author of “Drone Warfare: Killing by Remote Control”. The book, published in 2013, included numerous proof that Barack Obama’s Middle East policy was not a clear break from the Bush years but a continuation of similar policies by other means. One of the new tools that gained importance during the Continue Reading
Palestinian history is the story of Palestinians. This is the deep conviction that motivated Ramzy Baroud to write “The Last Earth: A Palestinian Story” (Pluto Press, 2018). Baroud’s work is without a doubt an extraordinary exercise in people’s history, as Professor Ilan Pappé stresses in the foreword of the book. At the same time, however, Continue Reading