The Struggle for Power in Syria: Politics and Society under Asad and the Baath Party. Nokalaos van Dam I.B. Taurus 2011 This book, now in its fourth volume, is a thorough and highly informative…

      [caption id="attachment_55227975" align="aligncenter" width="620" caption="Emerging Arab Voices edited by Peter Clarke"][/caption]   Emerging Arab Voices offers highly original writing…

The Quest: Energy, Security, and the Remaking of the Modern World Daniel Yergin Allen Lane, 2011 The Quest by Daniel Yergin is a magisterial account of the complex evolution of energy…

[caption id="attachment_55227603" align="aligncenter" width="620" caption="Monir with her work, Tehran 1970s (Photos courtesy of The Third Line)"][/caption] Against the backdrop of the Second World…

Failing Oversight: Iraq’s Unchecked Government International Crisis Group Middle East Report N°113, 26 September 2011 Since 2008, the Iraqi state has appeared strengthened by the relatively…

[inset_right]State vs. Defense: The Battle to Define America’s Empire Stephen Glain Crown Trade 2011[/inset_right]Stephen Glain is an American veteran, not of wars or military incursions, but of more…

[caption id="attachment_55227356" align="aligncenter" width="704" caption="Lubna Azabal as Nawal Marwan "][/caption] Addressing the issues of identity, family, memory and trauma, Incendies powerfully…

[caption id="attachment_55226888" align="aligncenter" width="638" caption="Tawakkul Karman"][/caption] The 32-year-old wears her scarf loosely, a style more familiar in Iran or the Gulf than Yemen…

[caption id="attachment_55226838" align="aligncenter" width="620" caption="Rachid Koraichi (image:Farrante Ferranti)"][/caption] Rachid Koraichi whose work has been described as “writing passion”…

[caption id="attachment_55226815" align="aligncenter" width="620" caption="A donkey at work in Tunisia"][/caption] In the midst of all this election business in Tunisia, though riveting, I…