Middle-east Arab News Opinion | Asharq Al-awsat

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Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif (L) and German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in the context of nuclear talks with Iran, in Vienna, Austria, on 13 July 2014. (EPA/Hans Punz)

Iran and Germany: A 100-year-Old Love Affair

by Amir Taheri | Jul 19, 2014 | Book Reviews

As the deadline for P5+1 group nuclear negotiations with Iran is extended by 4-months until November, commentators assume that the four Western powers involved, the United States, Great Britain, France and Germany, are united in their determination to curtail Iranian...

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The sun sets behind the High Atlas on April 1 , 2014, seen from desert plains near the city of Errachidia. AFP PHOTO / FADEL SENNA

Out of Place in Morocco

by Al-Mustafa Najjar | May 16, 2014 | Book Reviews

[inset_left]The Arch and The ButterflyBy Mohammed AchaariTranslated by Aida Bamia324 pages Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation Publishing, Doha: May 2014[/inset_left]It is a rather disappointing beginning: the narrator, a middle-aged, Left-leaning Moroccan journalist,...

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Protesters wave Egyptian flags during a protest in Tahrir Square, Cairo, April 8, 2011. (Reuters)

Awakening to Pluralism after the Arab Spring

by Najlaa Habriri | May 1, 2014 | Book Reviews

[inset_left]The Second Arab Awakening and the Battle for Pluralismby Marwan MuasherYale University Press, 232 pagesNew Haven, CT, 2014[/inset_left] London, Asharq Al-Awsat—For a couple of decades, the societies of the Middle East and North Africa seemed relatively...

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An unidentified woman walks under an anti-US graffiti painted on the walls of the former US Embassy in Tehran, Iran, on Saturday, November 2, 2013. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

Rogue States and the Appeasement Industry

by Amir Taheri | Apr 17, 2014 | Book Reviews

[inset_left]Dancing with the Devil: The Perils of Engaging Rogue RegimesBy Michael RubinEncounter Books, 426 pagesNew York, 2014[/inset_left] Just a few months ago, Secretary of State John Kerry was praising “our Russian partners” for their role in making a second...

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Did the BBC help overthrow the Shah?

by Amir Taheri | Mar 19, 2014 | Book Reviews

[inset_left]Persian Service: The BBC and British Interests in Iran By Annabelle Sreberny and Massoumeh Torfeh I.B.Tauris, 226 pages London 2014[/inset_left] “It’s all the work of the English!” Even when said in jest, for many Iranians this popular adage still has a...

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T. E. Lawrence. (AP)

The Deconstruction of a Hero

by Amir Taheri | Mar 6, 2014 | Book Reviews

[inset_left]Lawrence In Arabia: War, Deceit, Imperial Folly and the Making of the Modern Middle EastBy Scott Anderson575 pagesAtlantic Books, London 2014[/inset_left]The narrative goes something like this: The British sent one of their spies, T.E. Lawrence, to incite...