Amr Hamzawy and Marina Ottaway (CEIP): When Islamists Go into Politics. A review of Muslims in Global Politics by Mahmoud Monshipouri. A review of The Islamic Republic and the World: Global Dimensions of the Iranian Revolution by Maryam Panah. An interview with Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na'im on Islam and the secular state. From The Wilson Quarterly, the Arab world today is ruled by contradiction — turmoil and stagnation prevail, as colossal wealth and hypermodern cities collide with mass illiteracy and rage-filled imams; in this new diversity may lie disaster, or the makings of a better Arab future. A review of The Strong Horse: Power, Politics and the Clash of Arab Civilizations by Lee Smith. A review of books on Saudi Arabia. Letter from Cairo: Standing endlessly in traffic leads to thoughts about what is right and wrong with the Arab world. Less traffic through the Suez Canal means less of everything else for Egyptians — including hope. And then Cairo turned itself inside out: As the megacity brims with informal settlements, the upper classes are leapfrogging over the urban perimeter for an escapist paradise of luxury desert property. James Dorsey on the link between governance and security in Yemen. Uncle Ali: If you liked Hamid Karzai and Pervez Musharraf, you’ll love our latest ally, Yemen’s Ali Abdullah Saleh. From The Atlantic, it’s not just Al-Qaeda, but water shortages, collapsing oil supplies, war, refugees, pirates, poverty — why Yemen is failing; and by the skin of his teeth, Dubai’s ruler opens the world’s most ambitious — and outrageous — racetrack. Mithly (gay, in Arabic) is the first openly gay Moroccan magazine. Moustafa Bayoumi on Muslims and Arabs in the American imagination. The Fourth Estate in the service of power: Assaf Kfoury on media coverage of the Middle East.
