From Policy Review, a review of Will the Boat Sink in the Water? The Life of China’s Peasants by Chen Guidi and Wu Chuntao; and a review of The China Fantasy: How Our Leaders Explain Away Chinese Repression by James Mann. Karl Marx is back in China, and the philosopher is arguably bigger than ever. A review of Nixon and Mao: The Week That Changed the World by Margaret MacMillan; and Washington's China: The National Security World, the Cold War, and the Origins of Globalism by James Peck. As threat documents go, the latest version of the Pentagon's annual report, "Military Power of the People's Republic of China", released last month, is actually a fairly reassuring document.
From NYRB, Pankaj Mishra reviews The Clash Within: Democracy, Religious Violence, and India's Future by Martha C. Nussbaum. They won history's biggest gamble: A review of India After Gandhi: the History of the World's Largest Democracy by Ramachandra Guha (and more). A Business School for the Indian Poor: An innovative business school gives new hope for downtrodden rural women. "Gary, man, Iraq's a real downer, why don't you write about fun wars for a change?" A look at the slow, quirky, curry cookin' in Sri Lanka. A war strange as fiction: An opportunistic president and a dyed-in-the-wool rebel appear to have ended Sri Lanka's best-ever hope for peace.
From Prospect, what Luttwak didn't say: Edward Luttwak is right that the Middle East is not important enough to fight over. That's why the US should withdraw from Iraq and stop providing aid to Israel. A review of Killing Mr. Lebanon: The Assassination of Rafik Hariri and Its Impact on the Middle East by Nicholas Blanford; Hezbollah: A Short History by Augustus Richard Norton; Hizbullah: The Story from Within by Naim Qassem; Everyday Jihad: The Rise of Militant Islam Among Palestinians in Lebanon by Bernard Rougier. Here's an open letter by 139 writers, including scholars of Iran and the Middle East, protesting the detention of Halef Esfandiari by the Iraninan government.
What the new U.S.-Russia fight is really about: The dispute over missile defense reflects a deeper conflict over influence in Eastern Europe — and the need to take Russia seriously again as a regional power. Is Russia our enemy? These days, it's not so simple. Amitai Etzioni on Dealing with Russia: The Wrong Priorities. Adam Michnik on how two Polands confront each other. A Poland of suspicion, fear, and revenge is fighting a Poland of hope, courage, and dialogue.
From TLS, a review of Over to You Mr Brown by Anthony Giddens and Yo, Blair! by Geoffrey Wheatcroft. A review of A History of Modern Britain by Andrew Marr. Sweden’s economic and social system, sometimes called the “Swedish Model,” is often depicted either as an ideal or an abnormality. But Sweden’s system has varied considerably. The truth is that Europe is back and very much so. Consider these facts.
