New Books in Middle Eastern Studies

Those of us who have some background in Jewish history are taught that the Ottoman Empire encouraged Jews, particularly those of the Spanish and Portuguese Expulsions, to settle in Ottoman Lands. In Ottoman Jewry: Leadership, Charity, and Literacy (Brill, 2024), Professor Ayalon debunks what he calls that myth. The Ottomans, according to Yaron, were interested in stability - economic and otherwise. Minorities, with their additional taxes, would bring more financial benefits. Many were merchants who would pay higher taxes. With this premise, we discussed the world of the Ottoman Jews as one of creating community and society. There were Romaniot, Sephardim, Msta'ribun and some Ashkenazim who settled across these lands, and together they created strong communities with Rabbinic and lay leadership and a cultural heritage that can still be seen today in those communities who have survived and relocated around the world.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSupport our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/middle-eastern-studies

Marc Owen Jones, an associate professor at Northwestern University in Qatar, dives into the intriguing world of digital authoritarianism in the Middle East. Drawing from his experiences in Bahrain and beyond, he discusses how social media is weaponized through bots and disinformation to manipulate public opinion. Personal anecdotes reveal the risks researchers face while studying state-backed digital manipulation. Jones also shares practical strategies for activists to enhance their online safety, while underlining the vital need to grasp this evolving digital landscape.

In this episode, Chella Ward and Hizer Mir spoke to Leila Abdelrazaq about her artistic practice and its themes of Palestinian futurism. Their discussion centred on Leila’s artistic work, and probed the role that reimagining the past can play in a more just future. Leila Abdelrazaq is a Chicago-born Palestinian artist and cultural organizer whose debut graphic novel ‘Baddawi’ was published in 2015. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSupport our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/middle-eastern-studies

In this enlightening discussion, Mark LeVine, a UC Irvine history professor with two decades of experience in Egypt, and Lucia Sorbera, a University of Sydney expert on Middle Eastern literature, delve into 'Imprisoning a Revolution.' They explore the profound writings of Egyptian political prisoners, tracing the evolution of prison literature and its role as resistance. The conversation highlights parallels between the struggles of Egyptian and Palestinian activists and issues surrounding judicial independence, illuminating the threat of global authoritarianism and the power of expression in dire circumstances.

The Tropical Turn: Agricultural Innovation in the Ancient Middle East and the Mediterranean (University of California Press, 2023) chronicles the earliest histories of familiar tropical Asian crops in the ancient Middle East and the Mediterranean, from rice and cotton to citruses and cucumbers. Drawing on archaeological materials and textual sources in over seven ancient languages, The Tropical Turn unravels the breathtaking anthropogenic peregrinations of these familiar crops from their homelands in tropical and subtropical Asia to the Middle East and the Mediterranean, showing the significant impact South Asia had on the ecologies, dietary habits, and cultural identities of peoples across the ancient world. In the process, Sureshkumar Muthukumaran offers a fresh narrative history of human connectivity across Afro-Eurasia from the Bronze Age to the late centuries BCE.Sureshkumar Muthukumaran is a lecturer in History at the National University of Singapore. Sureshkumar received his BA in history at University College London, a Masters in Greek and Roman History at the University of Oxford and a DPhil in History at University College London. He won the American History Association's 2024 Jerry Bentley Prize in World History for The Tropical Turn.Jessie Cohen is an editor for the New Books Network. She earned her Ph.D. in History from Columbia University. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSupport our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/middle-eastern-studies

Ahmed M. Abozaid, a political scientist from Egypt, dives into the complexities of counterterrorism strategies in Egypt post-Arab Uprising. He discusses how these strategies facilitate systematic human rights violations and contributes to authoritarian governance. Abozaid draws from personal experiences, highlighting the emotional toll on youth facing state repression and wrongful incarcerations. He also advocates for a decolonized approach to terrorism studies that includes diverse perspectives, calling for community engagement and dialogue in security measures.

The untold history of Czechoslovakia's complex relations with Middle Eastern terrorists and revolutionaries during the closing decades of the Cold WarIn the 1970s and 1980s, Prague became a favorite destination for the world's most prominent terrorists and revolutionaries. They arrived here to seek refuge, enjoy recreation, or hold secret meetings aimed at securing training, arms, and other forms of support. While some were welcome with open arms, others were closely watched and were eventually ousted.Daniela Richterova's Watching the Jackals: Prague's Covert Liaisons with Cold War Terrorists and Revolutionaries (Georgetown University Press, 2025) is the untold history of Czechoslovakia's complex relations with Middle Eastern terrorists and revolutionaries during the closing decades of the Cold War. Based on recently declassified intelligence files, Richterova unveils the story of Prague's engagement with various factions of the Palestine Liberation Organization, along with some of the era's most infamous terrorists, including Carlos the Jackal, the Munich Olympics massacre commander Abu Daoud, and the Abu Nidal Organization. In this gripping account, Richterova explains why "Cold War Jackals" gravitated toward Prague and how the country's leaders reacted to their visits, and she uncovers the role Czechoslovakia's security and intelligence apparatus – the StB (Státní bezpečnost) played in these, at times, dangerous liaisons.Drawing on interviews and remarkably detailed records from the former Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic), Richterova offers readers interested in the intelligence world a fascinating account of how states use their spies to pursue covert policies with violent nonstate actors. The book also introduces new evidence and nuances into old debates about whether the Communist Bloc supported terrorism.Daniela Richterova is associate professor in the Department of War Studies at King's College London. She is a leading expert among the new generation of intelligence and security scholars, and she specializes in the history of Cold War espionage and state relations with terrorists and revolutionaries. She regularly publishes in leading academic and media outlets, including International Affairs and Foreign PolicyStephen Satkiewicz is an independent scholar whose research areas are related to Civilizational Sciences, Social Complexity, Big History, Historical Sociology, military history, War studies, International Relations, Geopolitics, as well as Russian and East European history. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSupport our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/middle-eastern-studies

In this episode of Radio ReOrient, Salman Sayyid and Chella Ward spoke to Professor Marc Van De Mieroop about Sumerian history. They discussed the role that the so-called ‘Ancient Near East’ might play in reorienting history, from redefining the history of philosophy to telling a less Eurocentric story about writing and textual evidence. Marc is Professor of the Ancient Near East from the beginning of writing to the age of Alexander of Macedon, at Columbia University. His many important books and articles were the subject of our fascinating conversation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSupport our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/middle-eastern-studies

Andrea Wright, author of "Unruly Labor: A History of Oil in the Arabian Sea," delves into the essential role of migrant workers in oil economies. She challenges traditional narratives, revealing how these laborers navigate complex power dynamics and resist exploitation. Through her ethnographic research, she uncovers the historical context of labor migration, racial hierarchies, and the impact of colonial legacies. Wright's work highlights the intersection of oil production and labor rights, emphasizing the ongoing struggles for better conditions within the Gulf region.

This book discusses hagiographic, historiographical, hymnological, and theological sources that contributed to the formation of the sacred picture of the physical as well as metaphysical Jerusalem in the literature of two Eastern Christian denominations, East and West Syrians.Popa analyses the question of Syrian beliefs about the Holy City, their interaction with holy places, and how they travelled in the Holy Land. He also explores how they imagined and reflected the theology of this itinerary through literature in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, set alongside a well-defined local tradition that was at times at odds with Jerusalem. Even though the image of Jerusalem as a land of sacred spaces is unanimously accepted in the history of Christianity, there were also various competing positions and attitudes. This often promoted the attempt at mitigating and replacing Jerusalem’s sacred centrality to the Christian experience with local sacred heritage, which is also explored in this study. Popa argues that despite this rhetoric of artificial boundaries, the general picture epitomises a fluid and animated intersection of Syriac Christians with the Holy City especially in the medieval era and the subsequent period, through a standardised process of pilgrimage, well-integrated in the custom of advanced Christian life and monastic canon.The Making of Syriac Jerusalem (Routledge, 2023) is suitable for students and scholars working on the history, literature, and theology of Syriac Christianity in the late antique and medieval periods.Catalin-Stefan Popa is Research Professor in Church History at the Romanian Academy in Bucharest. He holds his Ph.D. from Georg August University of Göttingen, Germany (2016). In 2021 he received the venia legendi (habilitation) at Karl Franzens University of Graz, Austria. He published articles, and edited volumes on Syriac and Oriental ecclesiastical history, exegesis, and literature, including the monograph Gīwargīs I. (660–680). Ostsyrische Christologie in frühislamischer Zeit (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, 2016). He is the editor-in-chief and founder of The Syriac Annals of Romanian Academy (SARA).New Books in Syriac Studies is presented by Kristian Heal. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSupport our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/middle-eastern-studies