tomscud | Comments (5)
Filed Under: Film
Another in a line of American movies exposing the dark side of the War on Terror, Harold and Kumar is a stunning indictment of that so-called "war's" injustice and hypocrisy....[
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Matthew Hogan | Comments (17)
Filed Under: 18th - 20th century
, Gulf
, Iran
, Iraq
, Islam
, Levant
, Political Islam
, Society & Culture
Simply put: this is a damn good book about fighting al-Qaeda, especially when one considers it was written by a member of the US counterintelligence establishment. It has shortcomings especially if one is, as I am, disturbed by some of the author's proposed counterterrorism solutions (more "random" searches, wiretaps,etc.). Still,...[
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dubaiwalla | Comments (6)
Filed Under: Iraq
Our readers are doubtless already familiar with the allegation that the Bush Administration made an epic mess of Iraq. But what exactly did they do wrong? Rajiv Chandrasekaran explores this in his account of the year and a bit immediately after the invasion, when the country was officially occupied....[
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eerie | Comments (47)
Filed Under: Society & Culture
Well, here it is. After much haranguing by Matthew and Lounsbury, everyone finally gets to hear what I think about Ayaan Hirsi Ali's memoir, Infidel. When I started the book this past summer, I forced myself to read it with an open mind (as opposed to the snarky cynicism I've...[
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Matthew Hogan | Comments (11)
Filed Under: Film
, Islam
, Levant
, MENA History
, Society & Culture
The bottom line, up front: Jack Shaheen's Reel Bad Arabs is a necessary resource for anyone seriously interested in the subject of negative stereotyping of Arabs in American cinema. The best supplement to this book, by the way, besides its recently released DVD companion piece, is the same author's The...[
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Matthew Hogan - March 6, 2010 09:38 AM | Comments (0)
Filed Under: 18th - 20th century
, Levant
Coincidentally, I re-picked up this 1867 humorous classic travelogue of Mark Twain's for a (re-)glance not too long after Mr. Netanyahu had threatened to (re-)use it for sundry and sordid Middle East polemics. The Israeli Prime Minister had planned to deliver a copy as a gift to Barack Obama last year.
(There's also some general literary special interest in Twain's works going on now, because 2010 is the centenary year of his death.)
The Innocents Abroad tells the tales of the legendary American writer's long trip across Europe and the Near East in the late 1860s. He wrote a series of diary-based articles based on the journey. These ultimately became the book. The travel humor is alive and well today, and not especially outdated, and relates well to the ups and downs of modern tourism. The work, however, is also oft-quoted these days by some Israel supporters, hence Netanyahu's literary excursion.
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dubaiwalla - August 6, 2009 03:18 AM | Comments (7)
Filed Under: 18th - 20th century
You know a country must have issues when its problems stick out in a region as troubled as the Middle East. Brian Whitaker's latest book examines the tumultuous course of events in Yemen during the early 1990s.
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dubaiwalla - December 13, 2008 09:01 PM | Comments (1)
Filed Under: 18th - 20th century
, Levant
, MENA History
The Arab-Israeli conflict is central to any discussion of Middle Eastern history over the past few decades, and the fate of Palestinian refugees lies at the heart of problem. In her book, Rosemarie Esber examines the last few months of Mandate rule in the Holy Land, in order to discuss...[
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Matthew Hogan - October 19, 2008 02:17 AM | Comments (16)
Filed Under: Islam
, MENA History
, Ottoman Empire
, Political Islam
, Society & Culture
Let's be upbeat: this book, released last month, doesn't totally stink. The author's personal politics might lead one to expect the worst, but neoconservative Stephen Schwartz does manage in his book to provide both interesting information and genuine thoughtfulness about religious faith and Sufi Islam. This is salutary because his...[
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dubaiwalla - September 15, 2008 11:27 AM | Comments (5)
Filed Under: 18th - 20th century
, Economics
, Gulf
, MENA History
Christopher Davidson's study of Dubai aims to evenhandedly tackle the city's history, politics, security, economics, and society. The city's rulers were so unhappy about the subjects discussed that they initially attempted to ban it. So why did I not lap it up?...[
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