The Fires of Spring; A Post-Arab Spring Journey Through the Turbulent New Middle East
Jeffrey L. Ward (Map) New York: St. Martin's Press, 2016. First Edition [Stated], First Printing [Stated]. Hardcover. x, [6], 368 pages. Map. Notes. Bibliography. Index. Inscribed by author on half-title page. Shelly Culbertson is a senior policy researcher at the RAND Corporation. Her research focus includes refugees, education, workforce development, international development, and the Middle East. She is currently leading a portfolio of studies about refugees and displacement in the Middle East, with emphasis on education, jobs, and humanitarian assistance models. She co-led a multi-year effort to advise the Ministry of Education of the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq on improving its K-12 and vocational education systems. Prior to RAND, she worked at the U.S. State Department on the Turkey Desk. Culbertson received a B.S. in mathematics and political science from the University of Pittsburgh and a master's degree from the Woodrow Wilson School for Public and International Affairs at Princeton University. She is the author of The Fires of Spring: A Post Arab Spring Journey Through the Turbulent New Middle East. Derived from a Kirkus review: A journalist and RAND Corporation research manager in Qatar, American-born Culbertson traveled recently to six Middle East countries she believes are most indicative of the vast changes taking place in the region since the political upheavals in 2011. Tunisia was the catalyst when in January of that year, the self-immolation of Mohammed Bouazizi ignited national unrest, and a true revolution then convulsed Egypt with the overthrow of a long-running dictator. The author’s choice of non-Arab Turkey underscores the profound and unsettling changes in the region that mirror the collapse of the Ottoman Empire at the end of World War I. Indeed, she posits, the struggle for the formation of legitimate nation-states began then. After presenting an overview of observations about the region as a whole—including the emphasis on the region’s diversity, the struggle to delineate Islam’s role in government, balancing the modern versus the past, the emancipation of women, and the inclusion of the overwhelming youthful demographic—Culbertson takes a deep look at each country in turn and asks the people involved what the revolution achieved for them. Condition: Very good / Very good.
Keywords: Middle East, Arab Spring, Egypt, Iraq, Islam, Jordan, Ottoman Empire, Muslim Brotherhood, Palestine, Qatar, Refugees, Tunisia, Turkey
ISBN: 97815466874954
[Book #75137]
Price: $60.00