Jamie O'Connell (UC-Berkeley): Common Interests, Closer Allies: How Democracy in Arab States Can Benefit the West. Dalibor Rohac (Legatum): Religion as a Commitment Device: The Economics of Political Islam. Rachel Wiseman on how Cinnabon explains the (Arab) world. Samuel Helfont reviews On Saudi Arabia: Its People, Past, Religion, Fault Lines — and Future by Karen Elliott House. From TLS, a review essay on the Arab Spring. From Logos, Kevin Anderson on Year Two of the Arab Revolutions; and Lawrence Davidson on Egypt in transition. ''Deep mistrust towards the West'': Anti-Western protests often arise suddenly in Arab countries, says historian and Arab world specialist Henner Furtig; however, he doubts the current outbreak was coordinated by al Qaeda. If the classic film Casablanca were made today, it would be set in Dubai. Arab spring break: Last year, Chris Jeon, a 21-year-old UCLA math major, left his $9,000-a-month internship at a financial firm in San Francisco in search of "real" experience — he wound up fighting with the rebels in Libya, where things got real fast. Erica Wagner interviews Marina Warner and Hanan al-Shaykh: What can The One Thousand and One Nights teach the modern world?
