Sectarian infighting and foreign intervention breed intrigue on the Lebanese political scene. Last summer’s war had a devastating effect—but factional power politics and Hizballah’s rising popularity threaten to make matters worse.
Obama has become George W. Bush. By asserting that a nuclear Iran is unacceptable and jockying with the Israelis we are being led by the nose into war. The Israelis are using fear on Iran as a bargaining chip over settlements in Palestine.
Simon Sebag Montefiore’s tour through Jerusalem demonstrates that the conquerors of history saw this city as a treasure worth countless lives. The current face-off between Israelis and Palestinians is only the latest intractable conflict.
The Bush administration may have gotten a lot wrong, but there is still hope for America’s policy in the Middle East. Three books shed some light on how the United States can get over Iraq.
The conservative movement is cracking up—just look at three memoirs of former administration officials. These new books may engage in justification and self-aggrandizement, but they do prescribe salves for fixing the conservative experiment.
