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The Americans, the Arabs, and the Iraqis in Iraq
Free Press
July 2006
400 pages
ISBN: 074323667X
Hardcover
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Non-Fiction Political
The fall of Saddam Hussein's brutal regime brought the
first glimpse of freedom for Iraq and unleashed elation,
resentment, and chaos. On the one hand, there is hope: the
Iraqi people have their first chance at independence. On the
other hand, there is despair: the country is exploding with
violent sectarian and political power struggles. Through it
all, Iraq has remained an enigma to much of the world. What
is it about this country that makes for such a seemingly
intractable situation? How did Iraq's particular history
lead to its present circumstances? And what can we fear or
hope for in the coming years? Fouad Ajami, one of
the world's foremost authorities on Middle Eastern politics,
offers a brilliant, illuminating, and lyrical portrait of
the ongoing struggle for Iraq and of the American encounter
with that volatile Arab land. Ajami situates the current
unrest within the context of Iraq's recent history of
dictatorship and its rich, diverse cultural heritage. He
applies his incisive political commentary, his broad and
deep historical view, his mastery of the Arabic language and
Arabic sources, and his lustrous prose to every aspect of
his subject, wresting a coherent, fascinating, and textured
picture from the media storm of fragmented
information. In the few years after the Iraq
war began, Ajami made many trips to that country and met
Iraqis of all ethnicities, religions, politics, and regions.
Looking beneath the familiar media images of Iraq and the
war, Ajami visits with individuals representing the breadth
of Iraq's populace, from Sunni leaders and Shia clerics to
Kurdish politicians and poets, Iraqi policemen, and ordinary
people voting for the first time in their lives. He also
hears from American soldiers on the ground, and the result
of all his encounters is an astonishing portrayal of a land
that has emerged as a crucial battleground between American
power and the wider forces of Arab religious and political
extremism. With his unrivaled access -- he has
been granted an audience with the great, reclusive Shia
cleric Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani and been admitted into the
sacred shrine of Imam Ali in Najaf for a discussion with its
religious scholars -- Ajami provides an intimate portrait
that draws on both his learning and his lifelong interest in
the traditions and the history of Iraq. With his
commentator's eye, his scholarly depth of understanding, his
poetic ear, and his abiding love for the Middle East, Fouad
Ajami is an essential voice for our times. The
Foreigner's Gift is the book we all need to read in
order to understand what is happening in Iraq today and what
the future might hold for all of us.
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