Tag: israel

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Westerners

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“We cannot rebuild western civilisation” vice-president JD Vance warned in March shortly after entering the office. The west people are so worried about has a familiar story behind it: It originates in the ancient world in the conjoining of classical Greek philosophy and the Hebrew Bible and then weaves its way through medieval Christendom or coined by nineteenth-century imperialists? Neither writes Georgios Varouxakis in The West, his ambitious and fascinating genealogy of the idea. “The West” was not used by Plato, Cicero, Locke, Mill or other canonized figures of what we today call the Western tradition. It was not first … Continue reading Westerners

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Challenging expectations

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Eric Schmidt, former CEO of Google thinks why Britain has much more global influence than it thinks. Ever since the global financial crisis, Britain has been through a difficult period, leading many to conclude the country is doomed to inevitable decline. Jeremy Hunt was at the top of government as both Foreign Secretary and Chancellor, in the last two Tory governments, and he rebuts those who think Britain is no longer capable of shaping the world we live in. There is a real urgency, in that the UK’s need for growth and security through foreign policy is clear. Hunt writes … Continue reading Challenging expectations

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Persians in crisis exploring questions of love, money, art and fulfilment

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A captivating Iranian family Valiat’s saga whose fate is intertwined with modern Iran. In Iran they were somebodies, but in America they’re nobodies. We follow, Elizabeth, from childhood to old age, a real matriarch, a lost young artist plagued with a too-big nose, and lost love, who remained in Tehran despite the revolution, while her daughters are Shirin, a flamboyantly high-flying event planner in Houston, who considers herself the family’s future, and Seema, a dreamy idealist turned bored housewife languishing in Los Angeles,  fled to the US in 1979, the year of the revolution. They are kept company with Niaz, her … Continue reading Persians in crisis exploring questions of love, money, art and fulfilment

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Iran’s Rise and fall

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The 1979 Islamic Revolution triggered a cold war between Iran and the United States – former fast friends. Despite the US’s relentless efforts at containment, Iran has risen as a formidable power in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen and Gaza. Its newfound status not only frustrates the US but has swiftly become a thorn in the side of Israel and Saudi Arabia. How did Iran rise so rapidly and as it faces ever increasing pressure at home and abroad, can it hold onto its power?  Iran is weaker now than it has been since the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s, in … Continue reading Iran’s Rise and fall

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Dictators seeking to impose their vision

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Historian and Anglo-Polish journalist Anne Applebaum uncovers the sophisticated networks of kleptocratic financial structures, security services and professional propagandists. The main enemies of domestic demagogues fanning the flames of populism. Foreign dictators who seek to impose their vision of a new international; order and hate our freedoms in George W Bush’s sonorous phrase. Applebaum’s catchy coinage “ Who are these bad guys?” is said to be a group of autocratic regimes, such as Russia, China and Iran, who together operate “not like a bloc but rather like an agglomeration of companies, bound not by ideology but rather by a ruthless, … Continue reading Dictators seeking to impose their vision

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Lost world of the Middle East Under Ottoman 

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This is an essential book for understanding the emergence of the modern Middle East from the destruction of the old Ottoman world. How the rule of law was restored to the birthplace ce of Judaism and Christianity, Damascus, after a massacre in 1860s, and the veneration in Island, the eastern littoral of the Mediterranean  Sea,  the most historically burdened place in the world. For centuries this city has drawn in powerful states aspiring to hegemony over the Holy Land, as the minorities sought refuge  from persecution and pilgrims on their way to Jerusalem and Mecca. Russian warships refuel at their … Continue reading Lost world of the Middle East Under Ottoman