WATANI International
14 December 2008
Desert songs
The American University in Cairo (AUC) Press recently issued a new book on the marvellous nature and landscapes of the Egyptian and Sudanese deserts. Desert Songs, A Woman Explorer in Egypt and Sudan by the Dutch author and explorer Arita Baaijens is an account of her many extended journeys through the Egyptian and Sudanese hills and dunes, exploring the secrets of the natural desert. Baaijens worked in the environmental field for more than 20 years and has written scores of research articles, books, and studies calling for the protection of the environment from the pollution caused by modern technology.
Unjust village
Dar al-Shorouq recently republished a novel by the late Mohamed Kamel Hussein Qarya Zalima (Unjust Village). The novel describes incidents in the last days of the life of Jesus Christ, focusing on the everlasting struggle between good and evil. It masterfully expresses abstract thoughts and looks at complicated intellectual, physiological, and social problems and traditions that have faced man through the ages but have neither been solved nor changed. Hussein (1901 – 1977) was a physician and a talented writer. He won the Egyptian State Prize for literature in 1957 and the State Prize for science in 1966, the first Egyptian to win both prizes. His books encompassed various fields such as Arabic language, literature, medicine, literary criticism and science.
On the US presidential elections
Restrictions and complications
The International Publishing House recently issued a new book by Manar al-Shorbagy, Kayf Yuntakhab al-Ra’ees al-Amriki? Qoyoud wa Taeqeedat wa Ashyaa’un Ukhra… (How is the US President Elected? Restrictions, Complications and Other Things). It tackles mainly the procedure for choosing and electing the president of the United States and explains the meaning of ‘American democracy’, which differs greatly from the ‘Western democracy’ we all know. The book’s target readers are the Arab and Egyptian people, who should know the role of the American people in choosing their president and how this is somehow restricted, although the US prides itself on its democracy and the spread of freedom.
Dr Shorbagy presents the theoretical frame of the presidential elections as well as the legal issues. She allocates one chapter to the role of the American media in forming the choices of the American people, and gives case studies of several election campaigns such as that of George W. Bush in 2000 and Bill Clinton in 1996.
Analysing the campaigns, Shorbagy believes that Barack Obama was not a mere presidential nominee but represented a political movement, a movement that first appeared in 2004 when Howard Dean—then an early candidate for the Democratic Presidential nomination and now chairman of the Democratic National Committee—and his followers uncovered the dangers in the Bush system. Obama was not part of this movement, but he tried to make use of it when he nominated himself and followed the concept of ‘the change that penetrated the essence of the political process.’
An empire of wealth
In his new book Imbratoriyat al-Tharwa (An Empire of Wealth), John Steel Gordon, author of a new book by American Heritage, tells a history of the US from an economical perspective. Translated by Hisham Mamdouh Taha and published by al-Shorouq, this presents the history of the American economy but came out before the recent economical crisis. The author calls the crisis “a ‘victory”, but a remarkable kind of “dynamo and creation”. The US covers six per cent of the world’s land area and population, and produces 30 per cent of the world’s net income—in every field from programming to agriculture. Americans have won 42 per cent of all Nobel Prizes awarded. al-Tareekh al-Malhami Lil-Quwat al-Iqtisadiya al-Amrikiya (The Epical History of the Power of the American Economy) is the sub-title of this book, a best read even for non-specialists.
The author says in his introduction that the power of the US is not in its well-prepared army but in its well-distributed wealth and its ability to gain more and more wealth, particularly in the form of capital assets. Mamdouh says the US economy is one of the wonders of the contemporary world for its successes, and sometimes its failures, over the past four centuries. Such an epic story of excellence was achieved by the millions who fought for success. It is interesting that this book emerged before the current crisis unfolded, and thus it remains to be seen how long it will be before the US economy’s established powers of recuperation take effect, especially in the light of younger, stronger economies in the new global market.
A memo to the president
President-elect Obama will face the daunting task of repairing America’s relationships and imperfect credibility after the damage caused in the past few years. A Memo to the President-Elect (Mozakira Illa al-Ra’ees al-Muntakhab) by former Secretary-of-State Madeleine Albright offers controversial ideas about how to confront the striking array of challenges that the next president will face and how to return America to its rightful role as a source of inspiration across the world. Albright presents much more than a mere group of prescriptions; she quotes lessons she has learnt from the past with some suggestions about how to create a distinguished foreign policy team, make full use of presidential power without repeating the errors of the Bush regime, and revive America’s commitment to its original ideals.
Albright provides plenty of anecdotes from her years in the office. She presents an insider’s analysis of American options in facing the decisive issues of our era, such as terrorism; war in Iraq and Afghanistan; opposition in the Middle East; the potential for nuclear war; and the troubles created by such troublesome leaders as Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmadi Nijad. The book is translated into Arabic by the Arab Scientific Publishers and published by Madbouli.
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