{"title":"Assyrians in Modern Iraq: Negotiating Political and Cultural Space, Alda Benjamin (2022)","authors":"D. Khoury","doi":"10.1386/jciaw_00101_5","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1386/jciaw_00101_5","url":null,"abstract":"Review of: Assyrians in Modern Iraq: Negotiating Political and Cultural Space, Alda Benjamin (2022)\u0000 Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 258 pp.,\u0000 ISBN 978-1-10883-879-5, h/bk, $99.99","PeriodicalId":36575,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Contemporary Iraq and the Arab World","volume":"9 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"78535285","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Perspectives on modern Iraqi literature and literary figures","authors":"Salaam Yousif","doi":"10.1386/jciaw_00080_2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1386/jciaw_00080_2","url":null,"abstract":"This Special Issue provides critical perspectives and insights on modern Iraqi literature and literary, cultural and artistic figures. The primary focus is on fiction, with the articles presenting in-depth readings of notable literary and artistic productions.","PeriodicalId":36575,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Contemporary Iraq and the Arab World","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"73865007","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Jonathan Wright on translating Arab and Iraqi literature, interview by Ruth Abou Rached","authors":"Ruth Abou Rached","doi":"10.1386/jciaw_00083_7","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1386/jciaw_00083_7","url":null,"abstract":"Jonathan Wright is a British journalist and literary translator, known for bringing many works of Arab fiction to new audiences via translation for the past fifteen years. His recent works, however, seem more connected to Iraq: in addition to The Iraqi Christ by Hassan Blasim and Frankenstein in Baghdad by Ahmed Saadawi, he has translated The Book of Collateral Damage by Sinan Antoon (Yale University Press, 2020) and God 99 by Blasim (Comma Press, 2020). Jonathan is currently working on a semi-biographical novella by Iraqi writer Ali Bader and on works by Palestinian activist and fiction writer Ghassan Kanafani yet to be translated or retranslated, into English. In this interview, Ruth Abou Rached and Jonathan Wright discuss the experiences of Wright translating Iraqi and Arabic fiction and Wright offers his thoughts and recommendations.","PeriodicalId":36575,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Contemporary Iraq and the Arab World","volume":"124 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"79502613","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Oligarchic transitions within the Tunisian ‘autocratic/authoritarian’ system and the struggle for ‘democratic transformations’","authors":"M. Khaddar","doi":"10.1386/jciaw_00090_1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1386/jciaw_00090_1","url":null,"abstract":"This work focuses on a contextualized understanding of ‘autocratic authoritarianism’ in Tunisia without approaching its peculiarities in reference to the ideal type of capitalist-liberal democracy and teleological democratization assumptions but instead on its own merits as a Tunisian civilian dictatorship (1957–2010). This latter is reminiscent of French colonial authoritarianism (1881–1956) and traditional beylic monarchic absolutism (1705–1957). For more than half a century, the Tunisian autocratic political system functioned as state-manufactured nationalist-populist authoritarianism associated with a presidential hegemonic ruling party, two successive autocratic presidents and their subservient oppressive elites. The diachronic survey of Tunisia’s political system encompasses the early years of autocracy, under the autocratic rule of the first president of the Republic Bourguiba, 1957–87, as well as the various stages of its consolidation into a police-security state with the second autocrat-President, Ben Ali, 1987–2011. This study also explores the reasons behind the durability of the ruling authoritarian-autocratic elites who played a decisive role in shaping state-society relations under the first and second president and left an indelible mark on the Tunisian polity beyond the 2010 ‘popular uprisings’. Therefore, the question is how, throughout the 2010 ‘Jasmine Revolution’, anti-democratic forces mutated in Tunisian politics in such a way that the end of ‘autocracy’, brought about by people’s uprisings, did not translate into social transformations, economic gains and ‘popular sovereignty’? Put more bluntly, why does the ‘revolution’ remain ‘unfinished’ and the transition ‘endless’ or ‘blocked’?","PeriodicalId":36575,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Contemporary Iraq and the Arab World","volume":"52 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"76829684","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Oil Powers: A History of the U.S.–Saudi Alliance, Victor McFarland (2020)","authors":"Keith Bukovich","doi":"10.1386/jciaw_00097_5","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1386/jciaw_00097_5","url":null,"abstract":"Review of: Oil Powers: A History of the U.S.–Saudi Alliance, Victor McFarland (2020)\u0000 New York: Columbia University Press, 384 pp.,\u0000 ISBN 978-0-23119-727-4, p/bk, $35.00","PeriodicalId":36575,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Contemporary Iraq and the Arab World","volume":"157 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"77050568","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Breathing new life into an old approach: The looking-east policy of the post-war Iraq","authors":"Shirzad Azad","doi":"10.1386/jciaw_00092_1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1386/jciaw_00092_1","url":null,"abstract":"After many years of devastating military conflicts and sweeping international sanction, the Middle Eastern country was devoid of sufficient financial and technological resources to rebuild in the post-war era. And since the West did not commit itself to a thorough programme of nation-building and reconstruction as widely expected, the Iraqis had to turn to eastern nations. By embarking upon a looking-east approach, therefore, Iraq aimed to particularly persuade a number of rich and resourceful Asian countries into close cooperation with Baghdad. Many Asian nations were equally interested in rekindling their connections to the post-Saddam Iraq at a critical time when the doubts and reluctance of western businesses could provide them with a potentially unique opportunity to invest especially in the sectors more conducive to their long-term vested interests in the Mideast country.","PeriodicalId":36575,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Contemporary Iraq and the Arab World","volume":"96 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"80209456","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Fake WMDs all over again? How Dutch newspapers supported western propaganda on an alleged chemical attack in Syria","authors":"T. Bergman, Eric van de Beek","doi":"10.1386/jciaw_00091_1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1386/jciaw_00091_1","url":null,"abstract":"History shows that wherever there is war, there is propaganda. In part for that reason it is often difficult to discover the truth about events that take place during war. For instance, many initially believed the western assertions that a chemical attack took place in the Syrian city of Douma in April 2018 and that the Syrian government was responsible. Yet it has become increasingly clear that it is more likely than not that the alleged attack did not occur and was instrumentalized for western political purposes. By way of a content analysis and a Critical Discourse Analysis this article investigates how the two most reputable Dutch newspapers reported and commented on the alleged attack in 2018. In particular, it explores the extent of the newspapers’ reliance on western sources and to whom the newspapers assigned responsibility for the alleged attack. The results show that the newspapers heavily depended on western sources and promoted western propaganda by uncritically providing it much prominence. Despite a lack of evidence and before any investigation had taken place, the newspapers often held the Syrian government responsible for the alleged attack.","PeriodicalId":36575,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Contemporary Iraq and the Arab World","volume":"13 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"90719420","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Iraqi ties to Yemen’s demise: Complicating the ‘Arab Cold War’ in South Arabia","authors":"I. Blumi","doi":"10.1386/jciaw_00093_1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1386/jciaw_00093_1","url":null,"abstract":"The Cold War justifiably receives attention from scholars exploring interstate relations in the Middle East. While competition between the major nuclear powers invariably contributed to how regional politics transpired in the twentieth century, there may be much that is missing from the narrative adapting such a focus on external factors. This article provides a detailed analysis of intraregional relations that are informed by domestic, intra-Arab concerns. With special focus on the evolving relations between Iraq and Yemen over the course of the 1920–90 period, it is possible to argue for a new approach to the study of the Middle East and its relationship to the larger world during the Cold War. Domestic concerns prove as much an animating force in global affairs as those based in British, American and/or Soviet Bloc circles usually foregrounded.","PeriodicalId":36575,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Contemporary Iraq and the Arab World","volume":"37 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"90928993","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Peace Movements in Islam: History, Religion, and Politics, Juan Cole (ed.) (2022)","authors":"A. Kayyali","doi":"10.1386/jciaw_00094_5","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1386/jciaw_00094_5","url":null,"abstract":"Review of: Peace Movements in Islam: History, Religion, and Politics, Juan Cole (ed.) (2022)\u0000 London: I.B. Tauris (Bloomsbury Publishing), 224 pp.,\u0000 ISBN 978-0-75564-317-2, p/bk, $25.95","PeriodicalId":36575,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Contemporary Iraq and the Arab World","volume":"115 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"90112230","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Bad Muslim Discount, Syed Masood (2022)","authors":"Katherine Belliel","doi":"10.1386/jciaw_00096_5","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1386/jciaw_00096_5","url":null,"abstract":"Review of: The Bad Muslim Discount, Syed Masood (2022)\u0000 New York: First Anchor Books Edition, 357 pp.,\u0000 ISBN 978-1-98489-741-1, p/bk, $17.00","PeriodicalId":36575,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Contemporary Iraq and the Arab World","volume":"61 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"73173450","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}