Middle East
Madawi Al-Rasheed, ed.
Mohammed Ayoob and Hasan Kosebalaban, eds.
The major themes in these two books are, first, the Saudi ties with the ulama (Islamic clergy, and in this case both the "establishment" Wahhabi clerics and those Salafis beyond Saudi reach) and, second, the transnational Saudi efforts in education and the media (quantitatively impressive but of more questionable influence).
Instead of telling the story of the Cold War in terms of an ultimately successful U.S. strategy of containing the Soviet Union, Khalidi depicts two superpowers jockeying for position in the Middle East, producing proxy wars and undermining the prospects for democracy.
The third in the U.S. Institute of Peace's series on "pivotal" states in the Muslim world, this little book adds luster to that often unappreciated category -- the short survey.
In Hide and Seek, Duelfer weaves into his detailed personal narrative an appraisal of U.S. policy and performance, the Iraqi officials he knew, and the hydra-headed UN.
Philip H. Gordon and Omer Taspinar
In this book, the authors present a five-point plan to keep the United States and Europe from "losing Turkey" that boils down to "support[ing] liberalism and democracy in Turkey"; promoting a settlement with Armenia, Cyprus, and the Kurds; and renewing a commitment to Turkey's eventual membership in the EU.
