The Middle East Journal articles from January 2009

The Middle East Journal archives from January 2009

Editor's note.
January 1, 2009... Readers of the print edition of The Middle East Journal already will have noticed that, as we begin our 63rd year of publication, our cover has a new look. The Journal has had many changes in cover art in its more than six decades of life, and...

The Arab street: tracking a political metaphor.(the way the United States media views Arab public opinion)
January 1, 2009... Understanding Arab public opinion is central to the search for sustainable political solutions in the Middle East. The way Westerners think about Arab public opinion may be affected by how it is referred to in their news media. Here, we show...

Ribat, al-Qa'ida, and the challenge for US foreign policy.
January 1, 2009... This article explores al-Qa'ida's concept of a sacred geography, focusing on the idea of "ribat"--maintaining watch on the frontier to defend Islam. Beginning in Afghanistan, fundamentalists have re-adopted this term from the hadith to...

Youthful voices in post-war Lebanon.(views of American University of Beirut students regarding reconciliation in Lebanon)(Essay)
January 1, 2009... For more than three years, Lebanon has been beset by a succession of political assassinations and disquieting public protests. Little is known about the views of the youth, roughly half the country's population, who have witnessed the...

"Logic dictates that they may attack when they feel they can win:" the 1955 Czech-Egyptian arms deal, the Egyptian army, and Israeli intelligence.
January 1, 2009... Scholars usually agree that the Israeli decision to attack Egypt in October 1956 was motivated by fear of an impending attack by the Egyptian army. That fear was spurred by the news of a large arms deal concluded between Egypt and...

Comparing Islamic resurgence movements in Turkey and Iran.
January 1, 2009... This article examines and compares the Islamic resurgence .movements in Iran between the 1950s to the revolution of 1979 and in Turkey from the 1950s to the present. It focuses on wide-ranging socioeconomic, political, ideological,...

Chronology: July 16, 2008-October 15, 2008.(Chronology)
January 1, 2009... SOURCES AFE Agence France Presse Al-Arabiya, Alarabiya.net Al-Jazeera, Aljazeera.net AT, Arab Times AN, ArabicNews.com AP, Associated Press BBC, www.bbc.co.uk CNN, www.cnn.com DNE, Daily News Egypt ...

Who commands the faithful?(Commander of the Faithful: The Life and Times of Emir Abd El-Kader)(Book review)
January 1, 2009... Commander of the Faithful: The Life and Times of Emir Abd El-Kader, by John W. Kiser. Rhinebeck, NY: Monkfish Book Publishing Company, 2008. xviii + 323 pages. Bibl. to p. 346. Index to p. 361. $28.95. In February 1856, the three-year...

Nationalizing Iran: Culture, Power and the State, 1870-1940.(Book review)
January 1, 2009... Nationalizing Iran: Culture, Power and the State, 1870-1940, by Afshin Marashi. Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press, 2008. xi + 138 pages. Notes to p. 165. Bibl. to p. 180. Index to p. 186. $60 cloth; $25 paper. The subject of...

A History of Modern Iran.(Book review)
January 1, 2009... A History of Modern Iran, by Ervand Abrahamian. Cambridge, UK and New York: Cambridge University Press, 2008. xxx + 195 pages. Notes to p. 214. Bibl. and further reading to p 223. Index to p. 228. $80 cloth; $24.99 paper. Ervand Abrahamian...

Refugee Rights in Iran.(Book review)
January 1, 2009... Refugee Rights in Iran, by Shirin Ebadi. London, UK and San Francisco: Saqi Books, in association with UNHCR, 2008.254 pages. Trans. by Banafsheh Keynoush. $19.95. The Iranian Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi offers a concise expose of Iran's...

A History of Modern Israel.(Book review)
January 1, 2009... A History of Modern Israel, by Colin Shindler. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2008, xxviii + 350 pages. Biblio. to p. 355. Index to p. 371. $80 cloth; $23.99 paper. In his introduction, Colin Shindler establishes in summary...

Governing Gaza: Bureaucracy, Authority, and the Work of Rule, 1917-1969.(Book review)
January 1, 2009... Governing Gaza: Bureaucracy, Authority, and the Work of Rule, 1917-1969, by Ilana Feldman. Durham, NC and London, UK: Duke University Press, 2008. xii + 235 pages. Notes to p. 295. Bibl. to p. 312. Index to p. 324. $22.95. Anyone who has...

A History of Modern Sudan.(Book review)
January 1, 2009... A History of Modern Sudan, by Robert O. Collins. Cambridge, UK and New York: Cambridge University Press, 2008. xxiii + 302 pages. Gloss. xx + xxiii. Notes to p. 304. Bibl. to p. 319. Index to p. 331. $27.99. For the past half-century Robert...

Saharan Conflict: Towards Territorial Autonomy as a Right to Democratic Self-Determination.(Book review)
January 1, 2009... Saharan Conflict: Towards Territorial Autonomy as a Right to Democratic Self-Determination, by Abdelhamid El Ouali. London, UK: Stacey International, 2008. 254 pages. Table to p. 10. Annexes to p. 195. Notes to p. 228. Bibl. to p. 247. Index to...

Peripheral Visions: Publics, Power, and Performance in Yemen.(Book review)
January 1, 2009... Peripheral Visions: Publics, Power, and Performance in Yemen, by Lisa Wedeen. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2008. xv + 223 pages. Notes to p. 262. Bibl. to p. 290. Index to p. 300. $65. A weak state but a strong,...

Queen of the Oil Club: The Intrepid Wanda Jablonski and the Power of Information.(Book review)
January 1, 2009... Queen of the Oil Club: The Intrepid Wanda Jablonski and the Power of Information, by Anna Rubino. Boston: Beacon Press, 2008. xiii + 281 pages. Acknowledgments to p. 289. Notes to p. 332. Index to p. 346. $29.95. The best journalists are...

The King's Messenger: Prince Bandar Bin Sultan and America's Tangled Relationship with Saudi Arabia.(Book review)
January 1, 2009... The King's Messenger: Prince Bandar Bin Sultan and America's Tangled Relationship with Saudi Arabia, by David B. Ottaway. New York: Walker and Company, 2008. 336 pages. $27. Biographical books that project an authentic, unbiased view of...

Faysal: Saudi Arabia's King for All Seasons.(Book review)
January 1, 2009... Faysal: Saudi Arabia's King for All Seasons, by Joseph A. Kechichian. Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida, 2008. xviii + 281 pages. $34. It must be easy to write an uninspired biography of a fascinating person because it happens...

Spies in Arabia: The Great War and the Cultural Foundations of Britain's Covert Empire in the Middle East.(Book review)
January 1, 2009... Spies in Arabia: The Great War and the Cultural Foundations of Britain's Covert Empire in the Middle East, by Priya Satia. Oxford, UK and New York: Oxford University Press, 2008. xiii + 337 pages. Notes to p. 408. Sel. bibl. to p. 441. Index to...

The Unmaking of the Middle East: A History of Western Disorder in Arab Lands.(Book review)
January 1, 2009... The Unmaking of the Middle East: A History of Western Disorder in Arab Lands, by Jeremy Salt. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2008. 358 pages. Notes to 416. Bibl. to p. 441. Index to p. 468. $29.95. Jeremy Salt's "leftist"...

Unexceptional: America's Empire in the Persian Gulf, 1941-2007.(Book review)
January 1, 2009... Unexceptional: America's Empire in the Persian Gulf, 1941-2007, by Marc J. O'Reilly. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2008. 300 pages. Sel. bibl. to p. 328. Index to p. 343. $80. This useful book argues that an informal American empire has...

Confronting an Empire, Constructing a Nation: Arab Nationalists and Popular Politics in Mandate Palestine.(Book review)
January 1, 2009... Confronting an Empire, Constructing a Nation: Arab Nationalists and Popular Politics in Mandate Palestine, by Weldon C. Matthews. London, UK and New York: I.B. Tauris, 2006. viii + 263 pages. Appends. to p. 273. Notes and index to p. 342. $95....

American Ascendance and British Retreat in the Persian Gulf Region.(Book review)
January 1, 2009... American Ascendance and British Retreat in the Persian Gulf Region, by W. Taylor Fain. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008. viii + 208 pages. Notes to p. 263. Bibl. to p. 274. Index to p. 283. $84.95. On September 1, 2008 the underachieving...

Beyond Sacred and Secular: Politics of Religion in Israel and Turkey.(Book review)
January 1, 2009... Beyond Sacred and Secular: Politics of Religion in Israel and Turkey, by Sultan Tepe. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2008. viii + 369 pages. Notes to p. 413. $39.95. How can one account for the resurgence of religiously inspired...

Jerusalem and Its Role in Islamic Solidarity.(Jerusalem: Idea and Reality)(Book review)
January 1, 2009... Jerusalem and Its Role in Islamic Solidarity, by Yitzhak Reiter. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008. 160 pages. Notes to p. 178. Refs. to p. 188. Index to p. 198. $74.95. Jerusalem: Idea and Reality, ed. by Tamar Mayer and Suleiman A....

The Mind of Jihad.(Book review)
January 1, 2009... The Mind of Jihad, by Laurent Murawiec. Cambridge, UK and New York: Cambridge University Press, 2008. 352 pages. $24.99. As the beautiful hotel in Mumbai was set ablaze, his children asked him who those terrorists are and why they would do...

The Arabian Frontier of the British Raj: Merchants, Rulers, and the British in the Nineteenth-Century Gulf.(Book review)
January 1, 2009... The Arabian Frontier of the British Raj: Merchants, Rulers, and the British in the Nineteenth-Century Gulf, by James Onley. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2007. xxxv + 224 pages. Appends. to p. 287. Bibl. to p. 337. Index to p. 352. BP65....

Invisible History: Afghanistan's Untold Story.(AFGHANISTAN)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2009... Invisible History: Afghanistan's Untold Story, by Paul Fitzgerald and Elizabeth Gould. San Francisco, CA: City Lights Books, 2009. 331 pages. Appendix to p. 336. Notes to p. 372. Bibl. to p. 378. $18.95. Utilizing 20 years of experience of...

Creating a Failed State: The US and Canada in Afghanistan.(AFGHANISTAN)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2009... Creating a Failed State: The US and Canada in Afghanistan, by John W. Warnock. Nova Scotia: Fernwood Publishing, 2008. 189 pages. Bibl. and notes to p. 203. Index to p. 209. In this concise and highly critical account, Warnock provides an...

Israelis and Palestinians: Why Do They Fight? Can They Stop?(ARAB-ISRAELI CONFLICT)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2009... Israelis and Palestinians: Why Do They Fight? Can They Stop? by Bernard Wasserstein. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2008. viii + 177 pages. Chron. to p. 194. Notes to p. 210. Bibl. to p. 218. Index to p. 228. n.p. In the third edition of...

The War for Palestine.(ARAB-ISRAELI CONFLICT)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2009... The War for Palestine, ed. by Eugene L. Rogan and Avi Shlaim. Cambridge, UK and New York: Cambridge University Press, 2007. xxiv + 261 pages. Sel. bibl. to p. 271. Index to p. 283. $85 cloth, $29.99 paper. In its second edition, The War for...

The Great Social Laboratory: Subjects of Knowledge in Colonial and Postcolonial Egypt.(EGYPT)(Book review)
January 1, 2009... The Great Social Laboratory: Subjects of Knowledge in Colonial and Postcolonial Egypt, by Omnia El Shakry. Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press, 2007. xiii + 222 pages. Notes to p. 290. Bibl. to p. 318. Index to p. 328. $55. This book...

Ahmadinejad: The Secret History of Iran's Radical Leader.(IRAN)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2009... Ahmadinejad: The Secret History of Iran's Radical Leader, by Kasra Naji. Berkeley and Los Angeles, CA: University of California Press, 2008. vii + 272 pages. Notes to p. 288. Index to p. 298. $24.95. A biography of Mahmud Ahmadinejad, this work...

Between Foreigners and Shi'is: Nineteenth-Century Iran and its Jewish Minority.(IRAN)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2009... Between Foreigners and Shi'is: Nineteenth-Century Iran and its Jewish Minority, by Daniel Tsadik. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2007. xxi + 192 pages. Abbrevs. Gloss. Map. Notes to p. 262. Bibl. to p. 282. Index to p. 295. $60....

The New Iranian Leadership: Ahmadinejad, Terrorism, Nuclear Ambition, and the Middle East.(IRAN)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2009... The New Iranian Leadership: Ahmadinejad, Terrorism, Nuclear Ambition, and the Middle East, by Yonah Alexander and Milton Hoenig. Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2008. xv + 192 pages. Appends. to p. 253. Acronyms to p. 256. Notes to p....

The Secret War with Iran: The 30-Year Clandestine Struggle against the World's Most Dangerous Terrorist Power.(IRAN)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2009... The Secret War with Iran: The 30-Year Clandestine Struggle Against the World's Most Dangerous Terrorist Power, by Ronen Bergman. New York: Free Press, 2008. xi + 377 pages. Epilogue. Acknowl. Bibl. to p. 398. Index to p. 417. $27.95. In his...

Understanding the US-Iran Crisis: A Primer.(IRAN)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2009... Understanding the US-Iran Crisis: A Primer, by Phyllis Bennis. Northhampton, MA: Olive Branch Press, 2009. ix + 119 pages. Notes to p. 129. Resources to p. 134. $10 paper. With a call for peace, Phyllis Bennis outlines and answers questions...

Iran's Foreign Policy.(IRAN)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2009... Iran's Foreign Policy, ed. by Anoushiravan Ehteshami and Mahjoob Zweiri. Ithaca, NY: Ithaca Press, 2008. v + 139 pages. Further reading to p. 144. Index to p. 149. A collection of essays discussing Iran's interactions with foreign countries...

Iran's Political, Demographic, and Economic Vulnerabilities.(IRAN)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2009... Iran's Political, Demographic, and Economic Vulnerabilities, by Keith Crane, Rollie Lal, and Jeffrey Martini. Santa Monica, CA, Arlington, VA, and Pittsburgh, PA: RAND Corporation, 2008. 120 pages. Refs. to p. 128. $29. This RAND study...

The Strongest Tribe: War, Politics, and the Endgame in Iraq.(IRAQ)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2009... The Strongest Tribe: War, Politics, and the Endgame in Iraq, by Bing West. New York: Random House, 2008. xx + 376 pages. Maps. Photos. Acknowl, to p. 387. Appends. to p. 400. Notes to p. 414. Bibl. to p. 417. $28. This book is based on...

Intervention, Ethnic Conflict and State-Building in Iraq: A Paradigm for the Post-Colonial State.(IRAQ)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2009... Intervention, Ethnic Conflict and State-Building in Iraq: A Paradigm for the Post-Colonial State, by Michael Rear. New York: Routledge, 2008. xviii + 229 pages. Notes to p. 254. Bibl. to p. 268. Index to p. 279. $95. In this work, the author...

Mahdis and Millenarians: Shi'ite Extremists in Early Muslim Iraq.(IRAQ)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2009... Mahdis and Millenarians: Shi'ite Extremists in Early Muslim Iraq, by William E Tucker. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008. xxv + 141 pages. Bibl. to p. 166. Index to p. 176. $85. In this work, William E Tucker traces the phenomenon of...

Iraq and Gertrude Bell's The Arab of Mesopotamia.(IRAQ)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2009... Iraq and Gertrude Bell's The Arab of Mesopotamia, ed. by Paul J. Rich. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, 2008. 246 pages. As a Western Arabist, Gertrude Bell had a dramatic impact on the modern Middle East through her...

Israel Since 1980.(ISRAEL)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2009... Israel Since 1980, by Guy Ben-Porat, Yagil Levy, Shlomo Mizrahi, Arye Naor, and Erez Tzfadia. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008. x + 177 pages. Index to p. 190. $80 cloth; $21.99 paper. In this work, Guy Ben-Porat et al. present an...

Islamic Attitudes to Israel.(ISRAEL)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2009... Islamic Attitudes to Israel, ed. by Ephraim Karsh and ER. Kumaraswamy. New York: Routledge Press, 2008. 194 pages. Index to p. 200. $150. This collection of 11 essays begins with one by co-editor Ephraim Karsh about the history of anti-Semitism...

North Africa: Politics, Region, and the Limits of Transformation.(MAGHRIB)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2009... North Africa: Politics, Region, and the Limits of Transformation, ed. by Yahia H . Zoubir and Haizam Amirah-Fernandez. New York and London: Routledge, 2008. xv + 364 pages. Bibl. to p. 384. Index to p. 394. $160 cloth, $45.95 paper. Comprised...

Libya Since 1969.(MAGHRIB)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2009... Libya Since 1969, ed. by Dirk Vandewalle. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008. vii + 238 pages. Bibl. to p. 257. Index to p. 267. $79.95. This volume includes nine essays that analyze the Libyan political system since Qadhafi's emergence in the...

The Maghrib in the New Century: Identity, Religion, and Politics.(MAGHRIB)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2009... The Maghrib in the New Century: Identity, Religion, and Politics, ed. by Bruce Maddy-Weitzman and Daniel Zisenwine. Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida, 2008. xii + 264 pages. Contribs. to p. 266. Index to p. 278. $59.95. Born out of a...

The Madrassah Challenge: Militancy and Religious Education in Pakistan.(PAKISTAN)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2009... The Madrassah Challenge: Militancy and Religious Education in Pakistan, by C. Christine Fair. Washington, DC: United States Institute of Peace Press, 2008. xxi + 101 pages. Appends. to p. 114. Notes to p. 132. Index to p. 141. $14.95. Fair...

Palestinians Between Nationalism and Islam.(PALESTINE AND PALESTINIANS)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2009... Palestinians Between Nationalism and Islam, by Raphael Israeli. London, UK and Portland, OR: Vallentine Mitchell, 2008. xvi + 303 pages. Bibl. to p. 310. Index to p. 320. $34.95. Through a collection of his essays, Raphael Israeli explores the...

Culture and Customs of Syria.(SYRIA)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2009... Culture and Customs of Syria, by John A. Shoup. Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2008. xxiii + 149 pages. Chron. Map. Gloss. to p. 157. Bibl to p. 161. Index to p. 165. $49.95. As part of Greenwood Press' Culture and Customs of the...

Turkish Cinema: Identity, Distance and Belonging.(TURKEY)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2009... Turkish Cinema: Identity, Distance and Belonging, by Gonul Donmez-Colin. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press/Reaktion Books, 2008. 224 pages. Film credits to p. 240. References to p. 252. Bibl. to p. 258. Index to p. 268. $35 paper. This...

The Ottoman Army 1914-1918: Disease and Death on the Battlefield.(TURKEY)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2009... The Ottoman Army 1914-1918: Disease and Death on the Battlefield, by Hikment Ozdemir. Salt Lake City, UT: The University of Utah Press, 2008. xiii + 203 pages. Appends to p. 231. Notes to p. 255. Bibl. to p. 274. $25. In The Ottoman Army...

A Doctor in Galilee: The Life and Struggle of a Palestinian in Israel.(AUTOBIOGRAPHY AND MEMOIRS)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2009... A Doctor in Galilee: The Life and Struggle of a Palestinian in Israel, by Hatim Kanaaneh. London, UK: Pluto Books, 2008. ix + 267 pages. Index to p. 276. $28.95. Written by Hatim Kanaaneh, a prominent Palestinian doctor, this memoir follows the...

Iraq and Rupert Hay's Two Years in Kurdistan.(AUTOBIOGRAPHY AND MEMOIRS)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2009... Iraq and Rupert Hay's Two Years in Kurdistan, ed. by Paul Rich. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2008. xxviii + 256 pages. Appendix to p. 260. $26.95. This new edition of Rupert Hay's 1920s memoir is re-introduced in a series by Lexington Books....

Tears of the Desert: A Memoir of Survival in Darfur.(AUTOBIOGRAPHY AND MEMOIRS)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2009... Tears of the Desert: A Memoir of Survival in Darfur, by Halima Bashir. New York: One World Ballantine Books, 2008. xi + 309 pages. Gloss. to p. 313. $25. Tears of the Desert follows the life of Halima Bashir, a black African woman born to the...

Disfigured: A Saudi Woman's Story of Triumph over Violence.(AUTOBIOGRAPHY AND MEMOIRS)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2009... Disfigured: A Saudi Woman's Story of Triumph over Violence, by Rania Al-Baz. Trans. by Catherine Spencer. Northampton, MA: Interlink Publishing, 2009. 168 pages. $15. Rania Al-Baz was a Saudi news anchor on a popular morning news program, The...

Honeymoon in Tehran.(AUTOBIOGRAPHY AND MEMOIRS)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2009... Honeymoon in Tehran, by Azadeh Moaveni. New York: Random House, 2009. 329 pages. Bibliography to p. 336. $26. Moaveni moved to Tehran to cover the coming to power of President Mahmud Ahmadinejad as a reporter for Time magazine. In the course of...

The Arab Mind: An Ontology of Abstraction and Concreteness.(CULTURE)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2009... The Arab Mind: An Ontology of Abstraction and Concreteness, by Alexander Abdennur. Ottawa, Canada: Kogna Publishing, 2008. x + 310 pages. Appends. to p. 314. Refs. to p. 324. Subject Index to p. 326. $40 paper. In an approach that seeks neither...

Culture and Conflict in the Middle East.(CULTURE)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2009... Culture and Conflict in the Middle East, by Philip Carl Salzman. Amherst, NY: Humanity Books, 2008. 212 pages. Refs. to p. 219. Index to p. 224. $34.95. Salzman, a professor of anthropology, seeks to explain the gap between the West and the...

Arabs in the Mirror: Images and Self-Images from Pre-Islamic to Modern Times.(CULTURE)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2009... Arabs in the Mirror: Images and Self-Images from Pre-Islamic to Modern Times, by Nissim Rejwan. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2008. xii + 197 pages. Sel. bibl. to p. 204. Index to p. 210. $24.95 paper. From pre-Islamic times to the...

Race and Arab Americans Before and After 9/11.(CULTURE)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2009... Race and Arab Americans Before and After 9/11, Ed. by Amaney Jamal and Nadine Naber. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 2008. xiii + 323 pages. Works cited to p. 356. Index to p. 378. Figures. Tables. $29.95 paper. In this book, the...

The Oil Hunters: Exploration and Espionage in the Middle East.(ECONOMIC CONDITIONS)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2009... The Oil Hunters: Exploration and Espionage in the Middle East, by Roger Howard. UK and New York: Continuum Books, 2008. 232 pages. $26.95. Roger Howard's volume is one of adventure and mystique surrounding the explorers, spies, and...

Chess with the Doomsday Machine.(LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2009... Chess with the Doomsday Machine, by Habib Ahmadzadeh. Trans. by Paul Sprachman. Costa Mesa, CA: Mazda Publishers, Inc., 2008. xviii + 268 pages. Map. $35. This novel, set in Abadan, relates the experience of the Iran-Iraq War (1980-88) through...

The Olive Grove.(LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2009... The Olive Grove, Deborah Rohan. Berkeley, CA: Saqi, 2008. 425 pages. $16.95. Kamel Moghrabi, an Ottoman soldier from a wealthy Arab family returns to Palestine after World War I after being imprisoned by his Turkish masters. Although the war is...

Inclined to Speak: An Anthology of Contemporary Arab American Poetry.(LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2009... Inclined to Speak: An Anthology of Contemporary Arab American Poetry, ed. by Hayan Charara. Fayetteville, AR: The University of Arkansas Press, 2008. xxxiii + 323 pages. Aknowl. to p. 330. Index to p. 333. $59.95 cloth; $29.95 paper. Inclined...

The Desert Contract.(LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2009... The Desert Contract, by John Lathrop. New York: Scribner, 2008. 301 pages. $25. John Lathrop's novel of romance and political intrigue set against the backdrop of the Saudi Arabian desert depicts life in an expatriate community that is quickly...

A Stone on a Grave.(LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2009... A Stone on a Grave, by Jalal Al-e Ahmed. Costa Mesa, CA: Mazda Publishers, 2008.96 pages. Afterword to p. 124. $15. Trans. by Azfar Moin. "Every man is a stone on his father's grave." So goes the saying that preoccupies the protagonist in Jalal...

Encyclopedia of Computer and Internet Terms.(LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2009... Encyclopedia of Computer and Internet Terms, by Alam Hammad. Salin, MI: McNaughton & Gunn, Inc. xviii + 1212. Appends. to p. 1244. Index to pg. 1258. $89. Hammad's encyclopedia seeks to enrich the Arabic language with terminology related to...

Yalo.(LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2009... Yalo, by Elias Khoury. Trans. by Peter Theroux. Brooklyn, NY: Archipelago Books, 2008. 317 pages. $25. Khoury's work follows the tale of Yalo, a young man growing up in Beirut during the Lebanese Civil War. The novel explores the skewed and...

Zubaida's Window.(LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2009... Zubaida's Window, by Iqbal al-Qazwini. Trans. by Azza el-Kholy and Amira Nowaira. New York: The Feminist Press. 122 pages. Afterword to p. 137. $19.95. Zubaida, like millions around the world, can only watch the 2003 US invasion of Iraq on...

Interruptions.(LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2009... Interruptions, by Massud Alemi. Bethesda, MD: Ibex Publishers, 2008. 304 pages. $25. Farzin Rouhani, a school teacher, leaves his house on a warm spring day in 1981 to visit his male lover's apartment in downtown Tehran. On his way, he becomes...

Shari'ah Law: An Introduction.(LAW)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2009... Shari'ah Law: An Introduction, by Mohammad Hashim Kamali. Oxford, UK: Oneworld, 2008. x + 310 pages. Bibl. to p. 321. Gloss. to p. 327. General index to p. 336. Index of Arabic quotations to p. 342. $29.95 paper. This comprehensive guide...

Family and Court: Legal Culture and Modernity in Late Ottoman Palestine.(LAW)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2009... Family and Court: Legal Culture and Modernity in Late Ottoman Palestine, by Iris Agmon. xxiii + 238 pages. Refs. to p. 257. Index to p. 264. $39.95. The stereotypical image of the family and legal system in pre-modern Muslim societies is on of...

Self-Defense in Islamic and International Law: Assessing Al-Qaeda and the Invasion of Iraq.(LAW)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2009... Self-Defense in Islamic and International Law: Assessing Al-Qaeda and the Invasion of Iraq, by Niaz A. Shah. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008. x + 178 pages. Notes to p. 181. Bibl. to p. 190. Index to p. 192. $74.95. Shah argues that the...

In Their Own Words: Voices of Jihad.(MODERN HISTORY AND POLITICS)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2009... In Their Own Words: Voices of Jihad, compilation and commentary by David Aaron. Arlington, VA: RAND Corporation, 2008. iii + 305 pages. Refs. to p. 333. $35. Drawing upon books, manuals, fatwas, communiques, interviews, and statements made by...

Political Islam and European Foreign Policy: Perspectives from Muslim Democrats of the Mediterranean.(MODERN HISTORY AND POLITICS)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2009... Political Islam and European Foreign Policy: Perspectives from Muslim Democrats of the Mediterranean, ed. by Michael Emerson and Richard Youngs. Brussels: Centre for European Policy Studies, 2007. 184 pages. About the authors to p. 186. Annex...

How Terrorist Groups End.(MODERN HISTORY AND POLITICS)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2009... How Terrorist Groups End, by Seth Jones and Martin Libicki. Arlington, VA: RAND Corporation. xxii + 142 pages. Appends. to p. 202. Bibl. to p. 223. Index to p. 227. $33. The authors of this monograph find that most terrorist groups in existence...

Debating Arab Authoritarianism: Dynamics and Durability in Nondemocratic Regimes.(MODERN HISTORY AND POLITICS)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2009... Debating Arab Authoritarianism: Dynamics and Durability in Nondemocratic Regimes, ed. by Oliver Schlumberger. Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press, 2008. xiii + 267 pages. Notes to p. 295. Bibl. to p. 335. Index to p. 345. $55. This volume...

Narrating the Nile: Politics, Cultures, Identities.(MODERN HISTORY AND POLITICS)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2009... Narrating the Nile: Politics, Cultures, Identities, ed. by Israel Gershoni and Meir Hatina. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers, Inc., 2008. v + 237 pages. Appends to pg. 244. Bibl to p. 259. Contribs, to p. 263. Index to p. 274. $55. During...

Will Terrorists Go Nuclear?(MODERN HISTORY AND POLITICS)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2009... Will Terrorists Go Nuclear? by Brian Michael Jenkins. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 2008. 378 pages. Notes to p. 408. Bibl to p. 425. Index to p. 457. $26.95. Written by one of the world's leading experts on terrorism, this book delves into...

The Age of the Warrior.(MODERN HISTORY AND POLITICS)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2009... The Age of the Warrior, by Robert Fisk. New York: Nation Books, 2008. vi + 499 pages. Index to p. 522. $28.95. The Age of the Warrior by the journalist and author Robert Fisk presents a collection of writings that discusses the many faces of...

US Foreign Policy in the Middle East: The Roots of Anti-Americanism.(MODERN HISTORY AND POLITICS)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2009... US Foreign Policy in the Middle East: The Roots of Anti-Americanism, by Kylie Baxter and Shahram Akbarzadeh. New York: Routledge, 2008. x + 186 pages. Index to p. 197. $37.95. This introductory text--including illustrated maps, text boxes, and...