The only book I've read of any real substance is Bernard Lewis' What Went Wrong. Lewis, an 85+ year old professor emeritus at Princeton, has been described as "the only genuinely acknowledged dean of Middle East studies in the West." His views seem generally supportive of my own:

 

Summary: To speak of dictatorship as being the immemorial way of doing things in the Middle East is simply untrue. It shows ignorance of the Arab past, contempt for the Arab present, and lack of concern for the Arab future. Creating a democratic political and social order in Iraq or elsewhere in the region will not be easy. But it is possible, and there are increasing signs that it has already begun. http://www.foreignaffairs.org/20050501faessay84305-p0/bernard-lewis/freedom-and-justice-in-the-modern-middle-east.html

 

Or, perhaps, my views have been influenced by the one genuine intellectual I've read on the subject. So, I ask you, what authors do you recommend on this subject? I'm not really looking for authors with an agenda or talking heads from Fox, CNN or the NYTs. I'm looking for genuine academics who have spent their lives trying to understand this culture.

 

FWIW, here's a New Yorker article which acknowledges Lewis' credentials, his "superior mastery of Islamic history," and seems to give him credit for good intentions but ultimately analogizes him to certain unidentified Chinese scholars who promoted Japanese imperalism in China in the 1930s. I'd take this charge more seriously if the author had deigned to identify the Chinese scholars for us to Google (heh, irony here) and if the primary basis for this criticism wasn't that Lewis fails to denounce the war in Iraq. See: http://www.newyorker.com/critics/books/?040614crbo_books The review seems to proceed from the assumption that Lewis must be flawed because he is not entirely pessimistic.

But Jim, there's no bias in the MSM! ;-)

 

Thanks for the suggestion, it looks interesting. I don't really have any great suggestions to add in terms of books about this subject, but I do highly recommend Daniel Yergin's classic "The Prize" for a greater understanding of the history of the oil industry and its basic influence on Middle Eastern politics. It greatly improved my understanding of the history of the relationship between Iran and Saudi Arabia, for example. Fascinating stuff.

But Jim' date=' there's no bias in the MSM! ;-)

 

Thanks for the suggestion, it looks interesting. I don't really have any great suggestions to add in terms of books about this subject, but I do highly recommend Daniel Yergin's classic "The Prize" for a greater understanding of the history of the oil industry and its basic influence on Middle Eastern politics. It greatly improved my understanding of the history of the relationship between Iran and Saudi Arabia, for example. Fascinating stuff.[/quote']

 

Thanks for the recommendation.

 

I think my idea of heaven would to watch the author of the New Yorker article debate Bernard Lewis.