In October 2012, my new book, Madmen at the Helm: Pathology and Politics in the Arab Spring (Ithaca, July 2012) was presented in several venues in the Boston area: the Old South Meeting House (Oct. 17), Book Ends bookstore in Winchester (Oct. 18), the Armenian Cultural Foundation (Oct. 21) and Robbins Public Library, Arlington (Oct. 25). The first event in the historic Old South Meeting House was a panel discussion together with Professor Roger Owen of Harvard University, author of The RISE and FALL of Arab Presidents for Life (Harvard University Press, May 2012). Psychologist Dr. Jack Danielian was the moderator. Read more...
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Tag: Madmen at the Helm: Pathology and Politics in the Arab Spring , The RISE and FALL of Arab Presidents for Life, Professor Roger Owen

In October, Muriel Mirak-Weissbach will present her new book at several venues in the greater Boston area. The book, Madmen at the Helm: Pathology and Politics in the Arab Spring, was released by Ithaca Press in Reading, UK in July. Read further...

Tag: Muriel Mirak-Weissbach, Madmen at the Helm: Pathology and Politics in the Arab Spring, Ithaca Press, Boston

Ithaca Press is pleased to announce the publication of Madmen at the Helm: Pathology and the Arab Spring, by Muriel Mirak-Weissbach.
Are dictators mad or do they just not know when to quit? Do they know that people hate them, or do they have personality disorders that block this knowledge from their consciousness? Read further...

Tag: Gheddafi, Assad, Mubarak, Saled, Ben Ali

What do we really know about the Syrian crisis? Given the press distortions and partisan accounts from both sides, it is not an easy question to answer. In the words of a professional risk analyst speaking at a recent seminar in Germany, it is comparable to what we can know about a hippopotamus in water: after all, what we see are only its ears and eyes. Indeed, fourteen months after the outbreak of demonstrations in Syria, anyone who claims to know how the crisis will evolve and where it will ultimately lead is either endowed with super-human capabilities or is submerged deep into the water, with goggles, an oxygen mask, and measuring instruments capable of measuring the beast’s heartbeat and other vital signs.
The seminar, entitled, “Syria in Civil War: the Multiethnic State Put to the Test” (“Syrien im Bürgerkrieg: der Vielvölkerstaat in der Zerreißprobe”), was organized by the German-Arab Society together with the Friedrich Naumann Foundation on May 17-18, in the Theodor-Heuss Akademie in Gummersbach, Germany. Read further...

Tag: Deutsch-Arabischen Gesellschaft, Fadwa Suleiman, Barbara Brustlein, Missio, Samir Matar, Ralf Erbel, Sadiqu Al-Mousllie, Erik Mohns, Ulrich Kienzle, Susanne Osthoff, Heinrich Matthée, Gerhard Fulda

In the wake of the Arab revolution sweeping north Africa, and the Guf region, Israeli authorities are finally addressing the question: could it happen here? And, if so, what should Israel do?
http://news.antiwar.com/2011/03/080israeli-military-not-able-to-crush-west-bank-uprising/

Tag: West Bank, Israel