From Fouad Ajami, an acclaimed author and chronicler of Arab politics, comes a compelling account of how a generation of Arab intellectuals tried to introduce cultural renewals in their homelands through the forces of modernity and secularism. Ultimately, they came to face disappointment, exile, and, on occasion, death. Brilliantly weaving together the strands of a tumultuous century in Arab political thought, history, and poetry, Ajami takes us from the ruins of Beirut's once glittering metropolis to the land of Egypt, where struggle rages between a modernist impulse and an Islamist insurgency, from Nasser's pan-Arab nationalist ambitions to the emergence of an uneasy Pax Americana in Arab lands, from the triumphalism of the Gulf War to the continuing anguished debate over the Israeli-Palestinian peace accords. For anyone who seeks to understand the Middle East, here is an insider's unflinching analysis of the collision between intellectual life and political realities in the Arab world today. From the Trade Paperback edition.

The Dream Palace of the Arabs

History

Ajami, Fouad

Middle East

Pantheon

From Fouad Ajami, an acclaimed author and chronicler of Arab politics, comes a compelling account of how a generation of Arab intellectuals tried to introduce cultural renewals in their homelands through the forces of modernity and secularism. Ultimately, they came to face disappointment, exile, and, on occasion, death. Brilliantly weaving together the strands of a tumultuous century in Arab political thought, history, and poetry, Ajami takes us from the ruins of Beirut's once glittering metropolis to the land of Egypt, where struggle rages between a modernist impulse and an Islamist insurgency, from Nasser's pan-Arab nationalist ambitions to the emergence of an uneasy Pax Americana in Arab lands, from the triumphalism of the Gulf War to the continuing anguished debate over the Israeli-Palestinian peace accords. For anyone who seeks to understand the Middle East, here is an insider's unflinching analysis of the collision between intellectual life and political realities in the Arab world today.

Dream Palace of the Arabs: A Generation's Odyssey

Asia

Vintage

How have Arab political ideas and institutions evolved since the 1967 War? How have the Arabs contended with the external influences to which their wealth has exposed them? What are the implications of the rise of Islamic fundamentalism? Fouad Ajami seeks to answer these and related questions in his illuminating study of the constraints and possibilities facing the Arab world today. The book is divided into three parts. The first documents the political and intellectual response to the defeat of 1967. The second part surveys the choices facing the Arab world as exemplified by the case of Egypt, held up as a mirror of the problems at issue in the whole region. The third part seeks to explain the resurgence of Islamic fundamentalism and locates its roots in the failures of the dominant political order, and the stalemate of secular political ideas. This revised edition of Ajami's acclaimed 1981 study has been updated in the light of recent turbulent events: the death of Sadat, the Iranian revolution, the Iran-Iraq War and the Gulf War.

The Arab Predicament: Arab Political Thought and Practice since 1967 (A Canto Book)

Cambridge University Press

How have Arab political ideas and institutions evolved since the 1967 War? How have the Arabs contended with the external influences to which their wealth has exposed them? What are the implications of the rise of Islamic fundamentalism? Fouad Ajami seeks to answer these and related questions in his illuminating study of the constraints and possibilities facing the Arab world today. This book documents the political and intellectual response to the defeat of 1967 and surveys the choices facing the Arab world as exemplified by the case of Egypt. It seeks to explain the resurgence of Islamic fundamentalism and locates its roots in the failures of the dominant political order, and the stalemate of secular political ideas. This revised 1992 edition of Ajami's acclaimed study has been updated and renews the book's status as an indispensable guide to the politics of the Arab world.

The Arab Predicament: Arab Political Thought and Practice since 1967 (Canto original series)

Business & Money

Economics

An incisive analysis of the roots and implications of the turmoil in the Middle East journeys behind the familiar facade of Iraq to argue that troubles in the Arab world can be linked to America's limited understanding of the region, thirst for oil, and need to deal with terrorism, as well as to the stranglehold that pan-Arabic thought has on the area. 50,000 first printing.

The Foreigner's Gift: The Americans, the Arabs, and the Iraqis in Iraq

Free Press

Fouad Ajami, one of the world¹s foremost authorities on Middle Eastern politics and the recipient of the 2006 Bradley Prize for Outstanding Achievement and the National Humanities Medal of 2006, offers a brilliant, illuminating, and lyrical portrait of the ongoing struggle for Iraq and of the American encounter with that volatile Arab land. In a new introduction, the author discusses the many major events that have taken place since the publication of the hardcover, including the implications of Saddam¹s execution, the Baker-Hamilton Commission, and the return to Iraq of General David Petraeus. He renders unsparingly the growing American disillusionment with the war and the struggle within Iraq between those keen to hold on to the promise of the new country called up by America¹s war and others determined to thwart that promise and overwhelm it with sectarian strife. Ajami situates the current unrest within the context of Iraq¹s 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. The Foreigner¹s 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.

In the summer of 1978, Musa al Sadr, the spiritual leader of the Muslim Shia sect in Lebanon, disappeared mysteriously while on a visit to Libya. As in the Shia myth of the "Hidden Imam," this modern-day Imam left his followers upholding his legacy and awaiting his return. Considered an outsider when he had arrived in Lebanon in 1959 from his native Iran, he gradually assumed the role of charismatic mullah, and was instrumental in transforming the Shia, a quiescent and downtrodden Islamic minority, into committed political activists. What sort of person was Musa al Sadr? What beliefs in the Shia doctrine did his life embody? Where did he fit into the tangle of Lebanon's warring factions? What was behind his disappearance?
In this fascinating and compelling narrative, Fouad Ajami resurrects the Shia's neglected history, both distant and recent, and interweaves the life and work of Musa al Sadr with the larger strands of the Shia past.

The Vanished Imam: Musa al Sadr and the Shia of Lebanon

Cornell University Press

The Vanished Imam: Musa Al Sadr and the Shia of Lebanon

Saudi Arabia has always held some mystery to Westerners. Writing in 2010 and looking back over two decades, the late Fouad Ajami provides deeper insight into the political culture on the Arabian Peninsula, presenting a firsthand look at Saudi Arabia's leadership, its rival factions, and its conduct and influence in foreign lands. From the influence of Islam in public life to Saudi rulers' attitudes toward the George W. Bush and Obama administrations, the author fills a significant gap in our understanding of that country.During the course of those two decades, Ajami gained access to Saudis from all walks of life. In these pages he reveals, largely in their own words, their true feelings on a broad range of subjects. He also draws from a new wave of Saudi literature, revealing works of fiction and biography that afford us a fresh view of the Saudi reality. In addition, he conveys the thoughts of the bloggers, with all their verve, irreverence, and immediacy, providing a window into the world of the skeptics and the modernists in that land.

Crosswinds: The Way of Saudi Arabia (Hoover Institution Press Publication)

Hoover Institution Press

In this collection of bold and wide-ranging essays, Fouad Ajami offers his views on the Middle East, commenting on the state of affairs in Iraq, Iran, Syria, Egypt and more. He brings into focus the current struggles of the region through detailed historical standpoints and a highly personal perspective. The author discusses such landmark past events as the Algerian civil war, the state of the Arab world shortly after 9/11, and the pan-Arab awakening that began in 2011, as well as current events such as the Syrian rebellion and the repercussions of its brutal response from Bashar al-Assad. In addition, he sheds new light on some of the significant players in the Arab world, past and present, from Naguib Mahfouz, the Nobel laureate of the Arabs, to Ziad Jarrah—the terrorist who is thought to have been at the controls of the plane forced down by its heroic passengers in Shanksville, Pennsylvania on 9/11.

In This Arab Time: The Pursuit of Deliverance

LGBTQ+ Books

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Ajami, Fouad. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Ajami, Fouad

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Ajami, Fouad. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

The Dream Palace of the Arabs

Dream Palace of the Arabs: A Generation's Odyssey

The Arab Predicament: Arab Political Thought and Practice since 1967 (A Canto Book)

The Arab Predicament: Arab Political Thought and Practice since 1967 (Canto original series)

The Foreigner's Gift: The Americans, the Arabs, and the Iraqis in Iraq

The Foreigner's Gift: The Americans, the Arabs, and the Iraqis in Iraq

The Vanished Imam: Musa al Sadr and the Shia of Lebanon

The Vanished Imam: Musa al Sadr and the Shia of Lebanon

Crosswinds: The Way of Saudi Arabia (Hoover Institution Press Publication)

In This Arab Time: The Pursuit of Deliverance