Getting Bashar al-Assad Very Wrong

Even in a scholarly discipline regularly upbraided for its ineptitude, Professor of Middle East History at Trinity University in San Antonio David W. Lesch stands out. Among the most rhapsodic boosters of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad since his ascension to power in 2000, Lesch has now written two books—one promoting the dictator as a Westernized peacemaker, one predicting his downfall—that have been withdrawn by their common publisher.

Review of Lorenzo Kamel, The Middle East: From Empire to Sealed Identities

While the scholarly literature is replete with works claiming a comprehensive analysis of modern Middle East history, few authors have actually built their investigation on identity-related perspectives. Indeed, the book, The Middle East: From Empire to Sealed Identities, proved faithful to its title, providing a clear historical view of the processes that turned the fluid and multifaceted distinctiveness, which characterised the peoples of this region under the late Ottoman Empire, into sealed-off identities...