The Foreigner's Gift: The Americans, the Arabs, and the Iraqis in Iraq Contributor(s): Ajami, Fouad (Author) |
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ISBN: 0743236688 ISBN-13: 9780743236683 Publisher: Free Press OUR PRICE: $14.40 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: June 2007 Annotation: Ajami delves beneath the familiar picture of Iraq--a land where sectarianism clashes with fundamentalism, modernity with tradition, democracy with nationalism--to get at the underlying truths of real Iraqi's lives and desires, and thereby at the real forces at work in Iraq every day. |
Additional Information |
BISAC Categories: - Political Science | International Relations - General - Political Science | Political Freedom - History | Middle East - General |
Dewey: 956.704 |
Physical Information: 1.02" H x 6.36" W x 8.41" (0.84 lbs) 416 pages |
Themes: - Cultural Region - Middle East - Cultural Region - Arab World |
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
Publisher Description: Fouad Ajami, one of the world s foremost authorities on Middle Eastern politics and the recipient of the 2006 Bradley Prize for Outstanding Achievement and the National Humanities Medal of 2006, offers a brilliant, illuminating, and lyrical portrait of the ongoing struggle for Iraq and of the American encounter with that volatile Arab land. In a new introduction, the author discusses the many major events that have taken place since the publication of the hardcover, including the implications of Saddam s execution, the Baker-Hamilton Commission, and the return to Iraq of General David Petraeus. He renders unsparingly the growing American disillusionment with the war and the struggle within Iraq between those keen to hold on to the promise of the new country called up by America s war and others determined to thwart that promise and overwhelm it with sectarian strife. Ajami situates the current unrest within the context of Iraq s recent history of dictatorship and its rich, diverse cultural heritage. He applies his incisive political commentary, his broad and deep historical view, his mastery of the Arabic language and Arabic sources, and his lustrous prose to every aspect of his subject, wresting a coherent, fascinating, and textured picture from the media storm of fragmented information. The Foreigner s Gift is the book we all need to read in order to understand what is happening in Iraq today and what the future might hold for all of us. |
Contributor Bio(s): Ajami, Fouad: - Fouad Ajami is the Majid Khadduri Professor of Middle East Studies at the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University. He is a contributing editor to U.S. News & World Report and a consultant to CBS News on Middle Eastern affairs. Ajami is a frequent contributor to Foreign Affairs, The Wall Street Journal, The New Republic, and other periodicals and outlets worldwide. Born in Lebanon and raised in Beirut, he is based in New York City. |