From NYRB, a look at how Russian journalists have suffered crippling attacks in recent years, as Vladimir Putin pursues his policy of strengthening the "vertical" dimension of his administration's "power pyramid". Putin Strikes Again: Murdering journalists is simply the most visible manifestation of the constant campaign against the press. A review of A Russian Diary: A Journalist's Final Account of Life, Corruption, and Death in Putin's Russia by Anna Politkovskaya (and more and more). A review of Death of a Dissident: The Poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko and the Return of the KGB by Alex Goldfarb and Marina Litvinenko (and more).
A review of The Great Arab Conquests: How the Spread of Islam Changed the World We Live In by Hugh Kennedy. Theodore Dalrymple on the case for mistrusting Muslims: The latest terror plots are confronting tolerant Britons with uncomfortable choices. For Muslim extremists, religion matters more than socio-economic status. Aiming to present a less threatening face of Islam on the global stage, the Aga Khan, one of the world’s wealthiest Muslim investors, preaches the ethical use of wealth. The Iran Crisis and Possible Scenarios: The Sunni states—especially Saudi Arabia—are alarmed by a now dynamic Iran and any move toward the acquisition of nuclear weapons will probably provoke an equal gesture by Riyadh. When Dictators Dictate: Why do Arab thugs always get away with murder? A review of Saddam on Trial: Understanding and Debating the Iraqi High Tribunal by Michael P. Scharf and Gregory S. McNeal.
From TAP, a benchmark or a giveaway? Why Iraqi oil workers oppose the much-vaunted oil law; an interview with Faleh Abood Umara, general secretary of the Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions, and Hashmeya Muhsin Hussein, president of the Electrical Workers Union of Iraq; and a photo essay documenting unionized Iraqi workers and their fight to prevent the privatization of their nation's oil industry. An excerpt from A Poisonous Affair: America, Iraq, and the Gassing of Halabja by Joost R. Hiltermann (and an interview). A review of The Mess They Made: The Middle East After Iraq by Gwynne Dyer. An interview with Dennis Ross on Palestine, Tony Blair’s new mission, and the failure of American statecraft, and a review of Statecraft: And How to Restore America’s Standing in the World.
Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank use only 12 percent of the land allocated to them, but one-third of the territory they do use lies outside their official jurisdictions, according to a new report released today by Peace Now. Hollow Land: The apparently random patchwork of settlement in the occupied West Bank in fact reveals a deliberate plan of colonisation and control. Shlomo Avineri on how post-Zionism doesn't exist. Her Jewish State: Israel is growing steadily more prosperous — and less secure. Where is its political center, and what is its future? If there is an answer, it may lie with Tzipi Livni: daughter of Zionist militants, ex-spy, foreign minister and rising political star.
