POLITICS WITHOUT PARTIES: AFGHANISTAN’S LONG ROAD TO DEMOCRACY

Democracy has not brought stability to Afghanistan in the almost two decades since the fall of the Taliban. But it would be wrong to conclude that the soil of Afghanistan is not conducive to the tree of democracy, when in reality it was never planted with any skill. Democracy did not fail in Afghanistan; it was never even tried.

A series of connected mistakes began with the introduction of a flawed electoral system, no insistence on a transparent register of voters, lack of proper scrutiny of polling, and a lack of support for the development of reformist political parties and other functioning civil society institutions. From the start the US did not see this as a ‘nation-building’ project, but nevertheless US officials made far-reaching decisions about the nature of Afghan democracy. These were seriously unsound, and the electoral system introduced itself operated against the development of strong democratic institutions.

This article outlines the problems inherent in the Single Non-Transferable Vote system, examines the history of Afghan political parties through the twentieth century and asks whether alternative and traditional forms of Afghan government provide any real obstacles to the development of modern politics. The 2004 constitution was the seventh since 1923: this was not a green field site in terms of institution-building as it was seen by many of the international officials who flooded in after the fall of the Taliban.     

A US-Japan Foreign Policy Alliance for Myanmar

Rarely before has such a large and potentially consequential country tried to reform itself politically and economically as Myanmar is now attempting, following an extended period of extreme isolation and amid unprecedented international and digital connectedness that exists today. This is a challenge not only for Myanmar, but also for the United States and Japan as they try to facilitate this transformation in productive ways, in a coordinated fashion, and consistent with their own foreign policy and commercial interests. A pertinent question, therefore, is whether or not Washington and Tokyo are inclined and prepared to address Myanmar's transition as an alliance issue, and if they are, then what is an efficient and effective way to go about this task.

The answer is mixed, for despite their pursuit of many common interests, the policy priorities and policy making environments in the United States and Japan differ significantly. In simple terms, the United States has a “democracy first” agenda in Myanmar that sometimes limits its options, while Japan takes a more flexible approach in order to maximize engagement and business opportunity. Still, President Obama and Prime Minister Abe provided a mandate in April 2014 to strengthen alliance cooperation in Southeast Asia (and in Myanmar in particular), and the two countries have complementary strengths and local networks that can be leveraged more effectively for the benefit of all.

Despite US concerns about stalled political liberalization and human rights abuses in Myanmar, Washington should take a longer-term horizon for evaluating reforms and consider enhancing its leverage with Myanmar through more effective policy coordination with Japan (which is a major player in the country), rather than the maintenance or reapplication of sanctions.     

Regional transport challenges within the Southern African Development Community and their implications for economic integration and development

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) seeks to deepen economic integration among its members through the SADC free trade area that came into effect in January 2008. The thrust for a progressive reduction of tariff and no-tariff barriers, which the market integration model emphasises, has serious implications for the impact of transport and communication systems on economic integration and development within SADC.

Transport and communications systems have an important bearing on economic integration and development because they can be significant non-tariff barriers. The SADC Protocol on Transport, Communications and Meteorology is the instrument through which transport and communications constraints are to be addressed. Through this protocol, some institutions have been established and others proposed to ensure that projects designed to deepen economic integration and development are implemented effectively.

The neo-functional integration approach is a relevant theoretical framework for analysing transport and communications issues and for implementing joint sectoral projects in areas that impact on overcoming development-related deficiencies in production and infrastructure. Transport and communications fall in this category of projects and the SADC region has benefited from functional co-operation in this sector.

As integration proceeds, polarisation of industries could occur, raising concerns about the distributional effects of economic integration as this affects development. However, polarisation is not inevitable: it depends on transport costs. This might seriously address transport and communications constraints because, if these are greatly reduced and eventually removed, weaker SADC countries need not lose industries to the core with the SADC Free Trade Area in place.     

Japan's Cold War Diplomacy and its Return to Southeast Asia

With Japan viewing Southeast Asia as its natural sphere of influence and a region of immense economic complementarities and potential, it was no surprise that Japan moved quickly in the post-war period to shore up and rebuild its influence in this strategically vital region as the European colonial powers departed from Southeast Asia. Using reparations, followed by aid and trade, Japan soon became a key economic and strategic state actor in Southeast Asia.

Providing a valid counterpoint to communism, Japan proved an attractive economic model that enabled it to grow its influence in the region substantially. Using deft and low-profile diplomacy Japan became an economic leader and driver of economic growth and prosperity in Southeast Asia, supplementing and supporting US Cold War regional objectives. During times of conflict, Japan worked to reduce tensions and restore order using its unique brand of Asian diplomacy, not losing sight of its long-term goal of integrating the region economically and fostering regional peace and stability.     

The Financial Crisis and America's Capital Dependence on Japan and China

In the Post-Bretton Woods financial system (1972–2009), the United States has been able to borrow heavily from savings-rich countries like Japan and China. Its access to international capital has allowed the US to cover years of extravagant spending and to enjoy unmatched levels of power and plenty. For lenders, like Japan and China, access to the huge US export market has stimulated aggregate demand, which, in turn, has facilitated economic growth, high rates of employment, infrastructure expansion, and technological development.

Notwithstanding the mutual benefits, the massive scale of Post-Bretton Woods imbalances has placed the financial system under stress. Such macro-economic imbalances usually require a major rebalancing—either immediately through a financial crash or gradually through a “soft” landing.

The financial implosion in 2008 constituted a crash landing. To arrest the steep slide into a possible world depression, most of the leading economies, including especially the United States, have taken bold monetary and fiscal measures. However, these expansionary measures will deepen deficits and generate strong inflationary headwinds while placing pressures on currency exchange rates.

Following the 2008 financial earthquake and its wave of after-shocks, America's access to foreign capital is apt to become more restricted and increasingly expensive. This will erode one of the central structural sources of US power—its extraordinary fiscal flexibility, monetary autonomy, and global economic clout. With a weakened financial superpower, the world may become less prosperous, less stable, less predictable, and considerably more dangerous.     

B. reviews and notes of recent bibliographies

i. Oman and Southeastern Arabia: A Bibliographic Survey. By Michael Owen Shannon. Boston, Mass., G.K.Hall & Co., 1978. pp.xvi, 165. $18.00.

ii. Türk Dili ve Edebiyati Ansiklopedisi: Devirler/Isimler/ Eserler/Terimler. Istanbul, Dergah Yayinlari, 1977. TL600 (for 2 vols.).

iii. Arab‐Israeli conflict: a historical, political, social and military bibliography. By Ronald M.De Vore. Oxford, Clio Press, 1976, pp.273. £10.45.

Conflict in the Middle East from October 1973 to July 1976: a selected bibliography. By Michael Rubner. Los Angeles, Center for the Study of Armament and Disarmament, California State University, 1977. pp.83. $3.00.

The Palestine Question: a select bibliography. Compiled from the holdings of the Dag Hammarskj?ld Library, United Nations. New York, United Nations, 1976. pp.63. £3.25 (Distributed in the U.K. by H.M.S.O.).

iv. Middle East Contemporary Survey: Volume I 1976–77.

Edited by Colin Legum. Tel Aviv, Shiloah Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies, University of Tel Aviv, and New York and London, Holmes and Meier, 1978. pp.xxiv, 684. £32.50.

v. The Modern Middle East: A Guide to Research Tools in the Social Sciences. By Reeva S.Simon. Boulder, Colorado, Westview Press, 1978. pp.xv, 283. £6.10.

vi. Gustav Meisels, Reference Literature to Arabic Studies, a bibliographical guide. Tel Aviv, University Publishing Projects Ltd., 1978. pp.xiv + 251.

vii. Saudi Arabia (World Bibliographical Series Vol.5).

Compiled by Frank A.Clements. Oxford and Santa Barbara, Clio Press, 1979. pp.xiv, 195. £16.75.

viii. The Records of the British Residency and Agencies in the Persian Gulf. IOR R/15. (India Office Records: Guides to Archive Groups). By Penelope Tuson. London, India Office Library and Records, 1979. pp.xix, 188. Pl.6. Index. £21.95.

ix. Modern Syria: An Introduction to the Literature. Compiled by C.H.Bleaney. Durham University, Centre for Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies (Occasional Papers Series, no.6). 1979. £4.00.

x. The Encyclopaedia of Islam. New Edition: Encyclopédie de 1'Islam. Nouvelle édition. Index to Volumes/aux [sic: read ‘des‘] Tomes I‐III. Compiled by/Établi par H.& J.D. Pearson. Edited by/Publié par E.van Donzel. Leiden, Brill/Paris, G.P.Maisonneuve & Larose S.A., 1979. pp.viii, 195. 60 guilders.     

Book reviews

In a Collapsing Empire: Underdevelopment, Ethnic Conflicts and Nationalisms in the Soviet Union. Marco Buttino (editor). Milano: Fondazione Giangiacomo Fentrinelli, 1993, 375 pp, Lire80,000.

The Turkic Peoples of the World. Margaret Bainbridge (editor). London: Kegan Paul International, 1993, 403 pp, £65.

Where Two Worlds Met. The Russian State and the Kalmyk Nomads, 1600–1771. Michael Khodarkovsky. Cornell University Press, 1992, 278 pp, illus, index.

Please Don't Call it Soviet Georgia. Mary Russell. London: Serpent's Tail, 1991, viii, 268 pp, £9.99.

Georgia: a Rebel in the Caucasus. Peter Nasmyth. London, Cassell, 1992, 222 pp, £16.99.

Looking Toward Ararat: Armenia in Modern History. Ronald Grigor Suny. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1993, xiii, 289 pp, $17.95.

Muslim‐Christian Encounters. William Montgomery Watt. Routledge, 1991, 164 pp, index.

The Great Game: On Secret Service in High Asia. Peter Hopkirk. London: John Murray, 1990, xiv, 562 pp, illus, £19.95.

The Great Game: The Struggle for Empire in Central Asia. Peter Hopkirk. New York: Kodansha, 1992, xxiv, 564 pp, illus, $30.00.

Francis Younghusband and the Great Game. Anthony Verrier. London: Jonathan Cape, 1991, xviii, 238 pp, illus, £18.00.     

The Wadi al-Hawarith affair (Emek Hefer): disputed land and the struggle for ownership: 1929–33

The Wadi al-Hawarith (Emek Hefer) affair was considered to be one of the prominent land disputes between Jews and Arabs in Palestine during the British mandate period. The region in which the dispute broke out was found south of Hadera in Emek Hefer.

The purchase of lands of Wadi al-Hawarith, by Jewish bodies, had already started at the end of the nineteenth century and continued for four decades, and during this there were disputes between the Jews and Arabs, which were accompanied by legal hearings.

The Jewish National Fund tried to reach an arrangement by means of compensation for the Bedouin tenants who dwelled on the lands of the valley, in exchange for their willingness to leave the territory. From time to time, the Bedouins agreed to this, but they went back on their agreement.

Despite the effort to reach compensation arrangements with the Bedouins, the Palestinian political leadership was interested in inflaming the opposition of the Bedouins to leaving the land. This is what caused a long string of trials, which continued for many years.     

The Struggle Against Corruption: Progress at a Snail's Pace. Why?

In 2010 the author, in an article for this journal, questioned the methods put forward by the international donor community to overcome corruption in the transitional and developing countries of the world. Five years on, the progress against this scourge has been minimal. In this article the author explores some of the reasons why. Apart from the obvious reason, namely the failure of political will in the countries themselves, he outlines some of the policy and practical errors that continue to hinder the progress that could be made.

Most of these errors are laid at the door of the international donor community, which perpetuates the remedies it advocates in spite of the evidence of failure. They range from a national anticorruption strategy that addresses corruption only in the public sector, to a policy of pursuing “grand corruption” but not “petty corruption” to insisting on an asset declaration system aimed at catching the corrupt and deterring others instead of aiming the system at identifying conflict of interest.

These egregious errors, among others described in this article, are the direct cause of lack of progress against a problem internationally recognized as destructive of everything the affected countries are striving to build. In the author's view the errors can and should be corrected. The remedies are relatively simple.     

The indonesian general elections 2004

The year 2004 is crucial for Indonesia's democracy. It has held a series of elections, ending on September 20 with the final round of the presidential elections.

The first election on April 5 was to elect members of Parliament (DPR), the Council of Regional Representatives (DPD) and the provincial as well as county level legislatures. Around 600 million ballots were cast that day by about 120 million voters.

The election was seen by the public and the international community as democratic, fair and peaceful. This was also the case with the first and second rounds of the presidential elections on July 5 and September 20.

They have helped to move Indonesia's democracy several notches higher and the Indonesian people should be congratulated for the process and the implementation. It showed a kind of maturity that augurs well for the future.

Encouragingly, it has been a democratic process, where Indonesians are exerting their political right to make their choice without being influenced or feeling pressured by their social and political groupings.

The voters showed their displeasure with PDI-P whose votes declined from 34% in 1999 to 19% in 2004. Recent experience also showed that personal popularity is an important factor in the election of the president. In addition, despite being the biggest Muslim country, the Muslim parties that are proponents of the Sharia got only 23% of the votes. Two out of the five presidential candidates representing Muslim organizations were eliminated after the first round.

The final round on September 20 was a competition between SBY (Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono), who was the most popular candidate, and Megawati, the incumbent. She has slightly improved her image and was able to build a coalition among the three biggest parties in parliament. The competition was thought to be a close one, but in the end it showed that popularity was the more decisive factor.     

The autobiography of struggle

Long Walk to Freedom. The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela.

Randburg, Macdonald Purnell. 1994. 630 pp.

’Armed and Dangerous’: My Undercover Struggle against Apartheid by Ronnie Kasrils.

Oxford, Heinemann Educational. 1993. x plus 374 pp.

Revolutions in My Life by Baruch Hirson.

Johannesburg, Witwatersrand University Press. 1995. xviii plus 365 pp.     

Reviews

Terrorism in Mozambique by Alex Vines. Centre for Southern African Studies, University of York, in association with James Currey, London, 1991. xiv plus 176pp. including maps, figures, tables, appendices, bibliography and index. R47.25. Paperback.

Kwame Nkrumah, the Conakry Years: His Life and Letters compiled by June Milne. Panaf, an imprint of Zed Press Ltd., London, 1990. x plus 422pp. including notes, bibliography and index.

Towards Economic Recovery in Sub‐Saharan Africa: Essays in Honour of Robert Gardiner edited by James Pickett and Hans Singer. Routledge, London, 1990. xv plus 273pp. including tables, notes, bibliography and index. £35.00. Hardback.

Chronicles of Darkness by David Ward. Routledge, London and New York, 1989. xii plus 191pp. including notes and index. £30. Hardback.

Towards Justice? Crime and State Control in South Africa edited by Desiree Hansson and Dirk van Zyl Smit. Oxford University Press, Cape Town, 1990. iv and 278pp. R34.95. Paperback.

The Politics of Reconciliation: Zimbabwe's First Decade by Victor de Waal. David Philip Publishers (Pty) Ltd., Cape Town, 1990. xiv plus 146pp. including prologue, acknowledgements, list of acronyms, endnotes and index of names. R39.95. Paperback.

Civil Service Pay in Africa by Derek Robinson. International Labour Office, Geneva, 1990. xi plus 220pp. including 58 tables. Paperback.

No Place to Rest: Forced Removals and the Law in South Africa edited by Christina Murray and Catherine O'Reagan. Oxford University Press, Cape Town, pp. 248. R24.95. Paperback.

People and Violence in South Africa edited by B. McKendrick and W. Hoffman. Oxford University Press, 1990. 495 pp. R49.95. Paperback.

The Elusive Search for Peace ‐ South Africa, Israel, Northern Ireland edited by H. Giliomee and J. Gagiano. Oxford University Press, 1990. viii plus 328 pp. R29.95. Paperback.

Southern Africa at the Crossroads. Prospects for the Political Economy of the Region edited by Anthoni van Nieuwkerk and Gary van Staden. South African Institute of International Affairs, Johannesburg, 1991.267 pp. including tables, notes and bibliographies. Paperback.

South Africa's Informal Economy edited by Eleanor Preston‐Whyte and Christian Rogerson. Contemporary South African Debates, Oxford University Press, Cape Town, 1991. vi plus 410pp. including 25 chapters with editors’ introductions, figures, tables, photographs, index. Each chapter has its own bibliography and notes. R43.95. Paperback.

Protecting Human Rights in a New South Africa by Albie Sachs. Oxford University Press, Cape Town, 1990. viii plus 208pp. including appendices and index. R21.95. Paperback.

The Igbos of Nigeria by John E. Eberegbulam Njoku. African Studies, (Vol. 14, 1990), The Edwin Mellen Press, New York. $69.95. Hardback.

La France et l'Afrique du Sud: Histoire, Mythes et Enjeux Contemporains edited by Daniel C. Bach. Karthala, Paris, 1990.432pp. Paperback.     

A: reviews: general

BETWEEN MARRIAGE AND THE MARKET: INTIMATE POLITICS AND SURVIVAL IN CAIRO. By Homa Hoodfar. Berkeley, Los Angeles, London, University of California Press, 1997. xviii, 302 pp.

THE COURT OF THE IL‐KHANS 1290–1340. Edited by J. Raby and T. Fitzherbert. Oxford Studies in Islamic Art (XII), Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1996. 218 pp., 84 black and white illustrations, ISBN 0–19–728022–6. £35 (hb)

COMMODITY AND EXCHANGE IN THE MONGOL EMPIRE: A CULTURAL HISTORY OF ISLAMIC TEXTILES. By Thomas T. Allsen. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1997. 137 pp. ISBN 0521–58301–2, £30.00 (US$49.95).

LAWRENCE OF ARABIA AND AMERICAN CULTURE: THE MAKING OF A TRANSATLANTIC LEGEND. By JOEL C. HODSON. Contributions to the Study of Popular Culture, No. 47. Westport, Connecticut, Greenwood Publishing, 1995. xiii + 183 pp., Index, $45.00.

THE CAMBRIDGE ILLUSTRATED HISTORY OF THE ISLAMIC WORLD. Edited by Francis Robinson. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1996. xxiii, 328 pp., maps, illustrations, £24.95.

THE HOLY WAR IDEA IN WESTERN AND ISLAMIC TRADITIONS. By James Turner Johnson. Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania State University Press, 1997. 185 pp.

MUSLIMS AND CHRISTIANS FACE‐TO‐FACE. By Kate Zebiri. Oxford, Oneworld, 1997. 258 pp., £14.99.

JINNAH, PAKISTAN AND ISLAMIC IDENTITY: THE SEARCH FOR SALADIN. By Akbar S. Ahmed. London and New York, Routledge, 1997. 274 pp., 18 plates, 4 maps, £45.00 (hb) £12.99 (pb).

YEZIDISM — ITS BACKGROUND, OBSERVANCES AND TEXTUAL TRADITION. By Philip G. Kreyenbroek. (Texts and Studies in Religion, Vol. 62). Lewiston, New York, Edwin Mellen Press, 1995. 349 pp.

GENDERING THE MIDDLE EAST: EMERGING PERSPECTIVES. Edited by Deniz Kandiyoti New York, Syracuse University Press, 1996. 177 pp.

DORIA SHAFIK, EGYPTIAN FEMINIST: A WOMAN APART. By Cynthia Nelson. Gainesville, University Press of Florida, 1996. xxvi + 322 pp., illustrations, $49.95.

THE MOBILIZATION OF MUSLIM WOMEN IN EGYPT. By Ghada Hashem Talhami. Gainesville, University Press of Florida, 1996. 192 pp., £36.00.

KNOWLEDGE AND SOCIAL PRACTICE IN MEDIEVAL DAMASCUS, 1190–1350. By Michael Chamberlain. (Cambridge Studies in Islamic Civilization) Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1994. xii + 199 pp., maps.

EGYPTIENS ET FRANÇAIS AU CAIRE 1798–1801. By André Raymond. Cairo, Institut Français d'Archéologie Orientale, Bibliothèque Générate, 18, 1998. 391 pp.

THE STRUCTURE OF CENTRAL AUTHORITY IN QAJAR IRAN: 1871–1896. By A. Reza Sheikholeslami. Atlanta, Georgia, Scholars Press, 1997. 246 pp.

BALAT: ETUDE ETHNOLOGIQUE D'UNE COMMUNAUTE RURALE. By Jacques Hivernel, Cairo, Institut Français d'Archéologie Orientale du Caire, 1996. 204 pp. bibliography, illustrations, maps and pictures.

A BLOOD‐DIMMED TIDE. DISPATCHES FROM THE MIDDLE EAST. By Amos Elon New York, Columbia University Press, 1997. 332 pp., Index £19.95 ($29.00).

RELIGIOUS RADICALISM IN THE GREATER MIDDLE EAST. Bruce Maddy‐Weitzman and Efraim Inbar (eds). Ilford, Essex, Frank Cass, 1997. 264 pp., ISBN 0–7146–4769–1 (hb), 0–7146–4326–2 (pb).

THE SCROLL OR THE SWORD? DILEMMAS OF RELIGION AND MILITARY SERVICE IN ISRAEL. By Stuart A. Cohen. Amsterdam, Harwood Academic Publishers, 1997. xx + 148 pp.

ISLAM IN A CHANGING WORLD: EUROPE AND THE MIDDLE EAST. Edited by A. Jerichow and J. Bæk Simonsen. Richmond, Surrey, Curzon Press, 1997. 190 pp.

ISLAMISCHE WIRTSCHAFTS‐UND WOHLFAHRTSEINRICHTUNGEN IN ÄGYPTEN ZWISCHEN MARKT UND MORAL. By Steffen Wippel. (Studien zur Volkswirtschaft des Vorderen Orients. Bd. 9). Münister, LIT Verlag, 1997. xlii + 391 pp., 88.80 DM.

ARAB AWAKENING AND ISLAMIC REVIVAL: THE POLITICS OF IDEAS IN THE MIDDLE EAST. By Martin Kramer. New Brunswick, Transaction Publishers, 1996. 286 pp., index.

ISRAEL AND THE WESTERN POWERS: 1952–1960. By Zach Levey North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press, 1997. 203 pp., $39.95.

BUILDING A PALESTINIAN STATE: THE INCOMPLETE REVOLUTION. By Glenn E. Robinson. Bloomington, Indiana, Indiana University Press, 1997. 228 pp., £12.50.

MANDATE DAYS: BRITISH LIVES IN PALESTINE 1918–1948. By A. J. Sherman. London, Thames and Hudson, 1997. 245 pp., 61 illustrations, short who was who, £16.95.

THE DECLINE OF THE ARAB‐ISRAELI CONFLICT: MIDDLE EAST POLITICS AND THE QUEST FOR REGIONAL ORDER By Avraham Sela. New York, SUNY Press, 1998. xv + 423 pp.

MAKING PEACE WITH THE PLO: THE RABIN GOVERNMENT'S ROAD TO THE OSLO ACCORD. By David Makovsky. Boulder, Colorado, Westview Press, 1996. 239 pp.

ISRAEL ON THE ROAD TO PEACE: ACCEPTING THE UNACCEPTABLE By Ziva Flamhaft. Boulder, Colorado, Westview Press, 1996. 252 pp.

REMAKING THE MIDDLE EAST. Edited by Paul J. White and William S. Logan. Oxford and New York, Berg, 1997. 340 pp.

THE COLD WAR AND THE MIDDLE EAST. Edited by Yezid Sayigh and Avi Shlaim. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1997. 303 pp., map.

US‐ISRAELI RELATIONS AT THE CROSSROADS. Edited by Gabriel Sheffer. London, Frank Cass, 1997. 242 pp., £32.50.

LIBYA: THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF OIL. By Judith Gurney. Oxford, Oxford University Press (For Oxford Institute for Energy Studies), 1996. 244 pp., £29.50 (hb).

NOTES FROM THE MINEFIELD. UNITED STATES INTERVENTION IN LEBANON AND THE MIDDLE EAST, 1945–1958. By Irene L. Gendzier. New York, Columbia University Press, 1997. 300 pp., maps, illustrations, £32.00.

IRAN‐SAUDI ARABIA RELATIONS AND REGIONAL ORDER. By Shahram Chu‐bin and Charles Tripp. London, IISS/Oxford University Press, 1996. 88 pp., £13.99.

THE UNITED STATES AND IRAN: IN THE SHADOW OF MUSADDIQ. By James Goode. London, Macmillan, 1997. ISBN 0–333–67831–1.

DIR IRANISCHE SCHIA UND DIE ISLAMISCHE EINHEIT 1979–1996. By Wilfried Buchta. Hamburg, Deutsches Orient‐Institut, 1997. 427 pp.

THE MAKING OF IRAQ 1900–1963: CAPITAL, POWER AND IDEOLOGY. By Samira Haj. SUNY Press, 1997. viii + 150 pp.

THE AGONY OF ALGERIA. By Martin Stone. London, Hurst, 274 pp., £14.95 (pb).

FROM TRUCIAL STATES TO UNITED ARAB EMIRATES. NEW EDITION By Frauke Heard‐Bey. London, Longman, 1996. xxvi + 540 pp.

ARABIAN DIVERSIONS: STUDIES ON THE DIALECTS OF ARABIA. By Bruce Ingham. Reading, Ithaca Press, 1997. xv + 193 pp. £35.

THE VERB IN LITERARY AND COLLOQUIAL ARABIC. By Martine Cuvalay‐Haak. Berlin and New York, Mouton de Gruyter, 1997. xx + 278 pp., DM 158.

LITERARY CRITICISM IN MEDIEVAL ARABIC‐ISLAMIC CULTURE. THE MAKING OF A TRADITION. By Wen‐Chin Ouyang. Edinburgh, Edinburgh University Press, 1997. viii + 257 pp.

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ARABIC LITERATURE. Edited by Julie Scott Meisami and Paul Starkey. London and New York, Routledge, 1998. Two volumes, 857 pp., ISBN 0–415–06808–8 (set).

IBN ‘AQIL: RELIGION AND CULTURE IN CLASSICAL ISLAM. By George Maqdisi. Edinburgh, Edinburgh University Press, 1997. 292 pp., £50

THE SIRDAR: SIR REGINALD WINGATE AND THE BRITISH EMPIRE IN THE MIDDLE EAST. By M. W. Daly. American Philosophical Society, 1997 xvii + 345 pp.

ISLAM: A VERY SHORT INTRODUCTION. By Malise Ruthven. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1997. 162 pp., 14 illustrations, 3 maps, £5.00.

THE QURAN: A NEW INTERPRETATION — TEXTUAL EXEGESIS. Muhammad Baqir Behbudi translated by Colin Turner. Richards Curzon Press, 1997. 720 pp.

THE FORMATION OF THE SUNNI SCHOOLS OF LAW, 9–10TH CENTURIES CE. By Christopher Melchert. (Studies in Islamic Law and Society, No. 4). Leiden, E.J. Brill, 1997. 244 pp.

HISTORY OF ISLAMIC PHILOSOPHY. Edited by Seyyed Hossein Nasr and Oliver Leaman. London, Routledge, 1996. 1211 pp.

THE SELF‐DISCLOSURE OF GOD: PRINCIPLES OF IBN AL‐'ARABI'S COSMOLOGY. By William C. Chittick (SUNY Series in Islam). Albany, New York: State University of New York Press, 1998. XL + 483 pp., $24.95 (pb).

‘AZIZ NASAFI. By Lloyd Ridgeon. (Curzon Sufi Series.) Richmond, Curzon Press, 1998. xiv + 234 pp., £35 (hb), £14.99 (pb).     

Reviews

The Possessed and the Dispossessed: Spirits, Identity and Power in a Madagascar Migrant Town by Lesley A. Sharp.

University of California Press, Berkeley and London. 1993. xx plus 345 pp. including maps, illustrations, tables, notes, bibliography and index.

Marketing Africa's High Value Foods edited by S. Jaffee and J. Morton. World Bank, Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company, Iowa. 1995. 503 pp. including bibliography and index.

Democratisation and Demilitarisation in Lesotho: The General Election of 1993 and its Aftermath edited by Roger Southall and Tsoeu Petlane. Africa Institute of South Africa, Pretoria. 1995. xvii plus 193 pp. R60 ($30).

A Culture of Censorship: Secrecy and Intellectual Repression in South Africa by Christopher Merrett.

David Philip, Cape Town; University of Natal Press, Pietermaritzburg and Mercer University Press, Macon (Georgia). 1994. xv plus 296 pp. including notes and index. Paperback. Price R54,95.

The Eritrean Question: The Conflict Between the Right of Self‐Deter‐mination and the Interests of States by Eyassu Gayim.

Iustus Förlag AB, Uppsala (Sweden). 1993. 716 pp. including figures, tables, notes, maps, annexures bibliography and index. Paperback.

The Rwanda Crisis 1959–1994 — History of a Genocide by G. Prunier. Hurst & Co. London. 1995. xiii plus 389 pp. Paperback. Price £12.50.

Entrance into Reproductive Life: A Demographic Expression of Socio‐Economic Changes in a Senegalese Rural Area by Valérie Delaunay. Centre Français sur la Population et le Développement (CEPED), Paris. 1994. Les Etudes du CEPED No 7. xxii plus 326 pp. including figures, maps, tables, appendices and bibliography. Paperback. Price 90FF.

Verso un Nuovo Sudafrica: Dall'Apartheid allo Stato Multietnico by Chiara Robertazzi.

Milan: Francoangeli. 1995. 130 pp. Paperback.     

Reviews

Scribe, Griot and Novelist: Narrative Interpreters of the Songhay Empire by Thomas A Hale. University of Florida Press, Gainesville (Florida, U.S.A.), 1990. xiv plus 313 pp. including notes, bibliography and index. £23.06. Hardback.

General History of Africa VII. Africa under Colonial Domination 1880–1935 (abridged edition) edited by A. Adu Boahenforthe UNESCO International Scientific Committee for the Drafting of a General History of Africa. UNESCO (Paris), University of California Press (Berkeley) and James Currey (London), 1990. xxi plus 387pp. including illustrations, bibliography and index. £4.95. Paperback.

South Africa: Constitutional Development ‐ A Multi‐disciplinary Approach by Donovan Marais. Southern Book Publishers, Johannesburg, 1989. 315pp. Notes and index. R37.50. Paperback.

Transport Planning for Third World Cities edited by Harry T. Dimitriou. Routledge, London, 1990. xxii plus 432pp. including figures, tables, notes, bibliography and index. £40.00. Hardback.

The Founder: Cecil Rhodes and the Pursuit of Power by Robert I. Rotberg with Miles F. Shore. Oxford University Press, New York, 1989. xxii plus 800pp. including maps, illustrations and bibliography. $35.00 and £25.00.

The Development of the Executive underthe Nigerian Constitutions, 1960–81 by J.D. Ojo. Ibadan University Press, Ibadan, 1985.189pp.

Cultural Forces in World Politics by Ali A. Mazrui. James Currey, London 1990.262pp. R46.60. Paperback.

Urban Markets ‐ Developing Informal Retailing by David Dewar and Vanessa Watson. Routledge, London, 1990. xii plus 154pp. £30.00. Hardback.

State‐Administered Rural Change: Agricultural Cooperatives in Kenya by Björn Gyllström. Routledge, London and New York, 1991. xvii plus 319pp. including figures, tables, appendices, notes, bibliography and index. Hardback.

The African Frontier: The Reproduction of Traditional African Societies. Edited and with an introduction by Igor Kopytoff. Indiana University Press, Bloomington and Indianapolis. 1987. vii plus 288pp. including maps, notes and index. R70.15. Hardback.

Studies in the Economic History of Southern Africa. Volume Two: South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland edited by Z.A. Konczacki, Jane L Parpart and Timothy M. Shaw. Frank Cass & Co. Ltd., London, 1991. xvii plus 290pp. including maps, figures, tables, notes, bibliography and index. £35.00 Hardback. £19.50 Paperback.

Incentives and Agriculture in East Africa by Mats Lundahl. Routledge, London, 1990.223pp. Hardback.

African Agriculture: The Critical Choices edited by HA Amara and B. Founou‐Tchuigoua. UN University Press, Tokyo and Zed Books, London, 1990. 227 pp. Paperback.

A History of Agriculture in West Africa: A Guide to Information Sources by S.C. Saha. Studies in African Economic and Social Development, Volume 6, The Edwin Mellen Press, New York and Lampeter, Wales. 136pp. $49.95. Hardback.

Ethnographic Decision Tree Modelling by Christina H. Gladwin. Sage University Paper Series on Qualitative Research Methods Vol.9. Beverly Hills CALSage, 1989.96pp. $6.50. Paperback.

Samora Machel: A Biography by lain Christie. London: Panaf 1989. 181pp including photographs, bibliography and index. Paperback.

Mozambique: Norwegian Assistance in a Context of Crisis by Grete Brochmann & Arve Ofstad. Fantoft: Christian Michelsen Institute, 1990. vii plus 173pp. including tables, bibliography and index. Paperback.

Self‐Employment for Disabled People: Experiences from Africa and Asia by Malcolm Harper and Willi Momm. International Labour Office, Geneva, 1989. viii plus 85pp. Swiss Francs 15. Paperback.

Technology, Gender and Power in Africa by Patricia Stamp. Ottawa, Ontario, International Development Research Centre, 1989. x plus 185pp. Paperback.

The Devils are Among Us: The War for Namibia by Denis Herbstein and John Evenson. Zed Books Ltd., London, 1989. ix plus 202pp. including maps, photographs, bibliography, glossary and index. Paperback.

Zimbabwe: A Model for Namibia? A Comparison of Events in Zimbabwe‐Rhodesia 1979–1980 with the Situation in SWA in 1989by Ted Sutton‐Pryce. Academica, Pretoria, 1989. vii plus 77pp. including photographs and acknowledgements. R12.50 plus VAT. Hardback.

The Failure of the Centralised State: Institutions of Self‐Governance in Africa edited by James S. Wunsch and Dele Olowu. Westview Press, Boulder, San Francisco and Oxford, 1990. viii plus 334pp. including tables, notes, bibliography and index. Paperback.     

C. Reviews: general

THE HISTORY OF AL‐TABARI. VOL. III: THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL. Translated by WILLIAM M. BRINNER. Albany, N.Y., SUNY Press, 1991. xii, 194 pp. $44.00 (hb), $14.95 (pb).

THE HISTORY OF AL‐TABARI. VOL. XXXIII: STORM AND STRESS ALONG THE NORTHERN FRONTIERS OF THE ‘ABBASID CALIPHATE. Translated by C.E. BOSWORTH. Albany, N.Y., SUNY Press, 1991. xix, 239 pp. $57.50 (hb), $18.95 (pb).

THE AWAKENING OF PERSIA: THE REIGN OF NASR AL‐DIN SHAH 1848–1896. By A.J. ABRAHAM. USA, Vande Vere Publishing, 1992. 64pp. $18.95.

THE EMERGENCE OF KURDISH NATIONALISM AND THE SHAIKH SAID REBELLION, 1880–1925. By ROBERT OLSON. Austin, University of Texas Press, 1992.

THE ARAB BUREAU: BRITISH POLICY IN THE MIDDLE EAST, 1916–1920. By BRUCE WESTRATE. University Park, PA, Pennsylvania State University Press, 1992. xvi, 240 pp. $35.

DIE TÜRKEI UND ÄGYPTEN IN DER WELTWIRTSCHAFTSKRISE 1929–1933. By CAMILLA DAWLETSCHIN‐LINDER. (Studien zur modernen Geschichte, 40). Stuttgart, Franz Steiner Verlag, 1989. xviii, 187 pp. 20 tables, 6 diagrams. DM 68‐.

EGYPT FROM INDEPENDENCE TO REVOLUTION, 1919–1952. By SELMA BOTMAN. Syracuse, Syracuse University Press, 1991.

EXPULSION OF THE PALESTINIANS: THE CONCEPT OF ‘TRANSFER’ IN ZIONIST POLITICAL THOUGHT 1882–1948. By NUR MASALHA. Washington, DC, Institute for Palestine Studies, 1992. iii, 235pp. $24.95 (hb), $11.95 (pb).

TRANSITION TO SELF‐GOVERNMENT: PRACTICAL STEPS TOWARD ISRAELI‐PALESTINIAN PEACE. Report of a study group convened by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, ANN MOSELY LESCH, principal author. Indiana University Press, 1993. 160pp. £22.50 (hb), £9.99 (pb).

GREATER SYRIA: THE HISTORY OF AN AMBITION. By DANIEL PIPES. New York and Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1990. viii, 240pp.

IBN SAUD: FOUNDER OF A KINGDOM. By LESLIE McLOUGHLIN. Basingstoke, Macmillan in association with St Antony's College, Oxford, 1993. 240pp. £40.00.

THE DESPAIRING DEVELOPER: DIARY OF AN AID WORKER IN THE MIDDLE EAST. By TIMOTHY MORRIS. London, Tauris, 1991.

A MODERN CULTURAL HISTORY OF BAHRAIN. By SAMI A. HANNA. Bahrain, National Council for Culture Arts and Literature, 1991. 107pp.

THE ECONOMIC CONSEQUENCES OF THE GULF WAR. By KAMRAN MOFID. London, Routledge, 1990. xxiv, 177pp.

EARLY ARABIC POETRY: MARATHI AND SU'LUK POEMS, Vol. 1. Edition, translation, and commentary by ALAN JONES. (Oxford Oriental Institute Monographs, 14.) Reading, Ithaca Press, 1992. ix, 270 pp. Map. £25.00.

RELIGION, LEARNING AND SCIENCE IN THE ‘ABBASID PERIOD. Edited by M.J.L. YOUNG, J.D. LATHAM and R.B. SERJEANT. (The Cambridge History of Arabic Literature.) Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1991. xxi, 587pp. £ 60.00 (hb).

THREE SHADOW PLAYS. By MUHAMMAD IBN DANIYAL. Edited by PAUL KAHLE. Critical apparatus by DEREK HOPWOOD. Introductory Essay by MUSTAFA BADAWI. (E.J.W. Gibb Memorial, New Series, 32.) Cambridge and Warminster, Gibb Memorial Trust/Aris and Phillips, 1992. 154pp. in Arabic and 30pp. in English. £12.00.

GENRE AND LANGUAGE IN MODERN ARABIC LITERATURE. By SASSON SOMEKH. Wiesbaden, Harrassowittz, 1991.

DER ARABISCHE DIALEKT DER JUDEN VON ‘AQRA UND ARBIL (Semitica Viva, 5.) By OTTO JASTROW. Wiesbaden, Harrassowitz, 1990. 438pp. DM 112.‐

1 For technical reasons, the symbol ‘e’ has been substituted for the ‘inverted e’ of the original throughout this review. [—Ed.]

WADAAN: REINFORCING READING/WRITING/FIRST LEVEL ARABIC COURSE, Vol.4. By DIONISIUS A. AGIUS, and PARWEEN N. ARIF. Leeds, University of Leeds, 1991. 65 pp.

HAYYAN BINA: KITAB AL‐TAMARIN. DRILLS/FIRST LEVEL ARABIC COURSE, Vol.5. By DIONISIUS A. AGIUS. Leeds, University of Leeds, 1991. 111 pp.

MUGHAMARAT ‘AJIBA FI QISAS MUFIDA: THIRD LEVEL ARABIC COURSE BOOK 1. By PARWEEN N. ARIF and DIONISIUS A. AGIUS. Leeds, University of Leeds, 1991. 64 pp.

UNVEILING ISLAM. By ROGER DU PASQUIER. Cambridge, Islamic Texts Society, 1992. viii, 157pp. £6.95.

CULTURAL SCHIZOPHRENIA. By DARYUSH SHAYEGAN. London, Saqi Books, 1992. vii, 188pp.     

A: Reviews: general

BYZANTIUM AND THE EARLY ISLAMIC CONQUESTS. By WALTER E. KAEGI. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1992. xiii, 313pp. 5 maps, 2 pp. of plates. £45.00 (hb).

STUDIES IN EARLY MUSLIM JURISPRUDENCE. By NORMAN CALDER. Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1993. xiv, 257pp. £35.00.

GOLDEN ROADS: MIGRATION, PILGRIMAGE AND TRAVEL IN MEDIAEVAL AND MODERN ISLAM. Edited by IAN RICHARD NETTON. Richmond (Surrey), Curzon Press, 1993. xvii, 193pp. £35 (hb), £16.99 (pb).

SULEIMAN THE MAGNIFICENT: THE MAN, HIS LIFE, HIS EPOCH. By ANDRE CLOT [trans. from the French]. London, Saqi Books, 1992. viii, 399pp.

POPULAR CULTURE IN MEDIEVAL EGYPT. By BOAZ SHOSHAN. (Cambridge Studies in Islamic Civilization.) Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1993. 148pp. $49.95.

HOLYMEN OF THE BLUE NILE: THE MAKING OF AN ARAB‐ISLAMIC COMMUNITY IN THE NILOTIC SUDAN, 1500–1850. By NEIL MCHUGH. (Northwestern University Press Series in Islam and Society in Africa.) Evanston, Illinois, Northwestern University Press, 1994. xii, 280pp. 3 maps.

OTTOMAN MANUFACTURING IN THE AGE OF THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION. By DONALD QUATAERT. (Cambridge Middle East Library 30.) Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1993. xvii, 224pp. 5 maps, 5 illustrations. £35.

ESTRANGED BEDFELLOWS: BRITAIN AND FRANCE IN THE MIDDLE EAST DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR. By AVIEL ROSHWALD. (Studies in Middle Eastern History.) New York and Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1990. 315pp. Index.

ELUSIVE DEVELOPMENT: FROM DEPENDENCE TO SELF‐RELIANCE IN THE ARAB WORLD. By YUSIF SAYIGH. London, Routledge, 1991. xi, 270pp. £40.

THE MIDDLE EAST AND PROBLEMS OF DEMOCRACY. By HEATHER DEEGAN. Philadelphia, Open University Press, 1993. 135pp. Notes, bibliography, index.

THE MIDDLE EAST AND EUROPE: AN INTEGRATED COMMUNITIES APPROACH. Edited by GERD NONNEMAN. Federal Trust for Education and Research, 1992. 305pp. £30.

STEPPES D'ARABIES. ETATS, PASTEURS, AGRICULTEURS ET COMMERÇANTS: LE DEVENIR DES ZONES SECHES. Edited by RICCARDO BOCCO, RONALD JAUBERT and FRANÇOISE METRAL. Paris, Presses Universitaires de France; Geneva, Cahiers de l'I.U.E.D., 1993. 401pp. n.p.

OIL MONARCHIES: DOMESTIC AND SECURITY CHALLENGES IN THE ARAB GULF STATES. By F. GREGORY GAUSE III. New York, Council on Foreign Relations Inc. xii, 237pp. Map, tables. $16.95 (pb).

SAUDI ARABIA: GOVERNMENT, SOCIETY AND THE GULF CRISIS. By MORDECHAI ABIR. London, Routledge, 1993. xvi, 269pp. £40 (hb).

KUWAIT AND IRAQ: HISTORICAL CLAIMS AND TERRITORIAL DISPUTES. By RICHARD SCHOFIELD. London, Middle East Programme, Royal Institute of International Affairs, 2nd edition, 1993. xv, 207pp. Maps, index. £15.00 (pb).

TERRITORIAL FOUNDATIONS OF THE GULF STATES. Edited by RICHARD SCHOFIELD. London, UCL Press, 1994. (SOAS/GRC Geopolitics Series, 1). xi, 256pp. Maps, index.

KING ABDUL‐AZIZ AND THE KUWAIT CONFERENCE 1923–1924. By MOUDI M. ABDUL‐AZIZ. Translated from Arabic by Basil Hatim with Ron Buckley. London, Echoes, 1993. 169pp. Notes, bibliography, index.

KUWAIT: FALL AND REBIRTH. By MOHAMMED ABDULRAHMAN AL‐YAHYA. London, Kegan Paul International, 1993. x, 130pp. £35.

CONTEMPORARY SYRIA: LIBERALIZATION BETWEEN COLD WAR AND COLD PEACE. Edited by EBERHARD KIENLE. London, British Academic Press in association with the Centre for Near and Middle Eastern Studies, SOAS, 1994. 187pp.

COEXISTENCE IN WARTIME LEBANON: DECLINE OF A STATE AND RISE OF A NATION. By THEODOR HANF. London: Centre for Lebanese Studies in association with I.B. Tauris, 1993. 646pp.

JUDAISM AND MODERNIZATION ON THE RELIGIOUS KIBBUTZ. By ARYEI FISHMAN. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1992. 202pp. £32.50.

THE NEGEV BEDOUIN AND LIVESTOCK REARING: SOCIAL, ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL ASPECTS. By AREF ABU‐RABIA. (Mediterranean Series.) Oxford, Berg Publishers, 1994. 139pp. illustrations, maps, charts, index. £29.95.

THE KURDS OF IRAQ: TRAGEDY AND HOPE. By MICHAEL M. GUNTER. New York, St Martin's Press, 1992. 175pp. Map. £29.95.

Alavi, Hamza, ‘India and the Colonial Mode of Production’, Economic and Political Weekly, Vol.X, Nos.33–35, August 1975.

Althusser, L. and Balibar, E. Reading Capital. London, New Left Review, 1970.

Foran, John, ‘The Modes of Production Approach to Seventeenth‐century Iran’, International Journal of Middle East Studies, Vol.20, No.3, August 1988.

Foster‐Carter, Aidan, ‘The Modes of Production Controversy’, New Left Review, 107, February 1978.

Hindess, B. and Hirst, P., Mode of Production and Social Formation, London, Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1977.

Mahdi, Ali‐Akbar, ‘The Iranian Social Formation: Pre‐Capitalism, Dependent Capitalism and the World System’, PhD dissertation. Department of Sociology, Michigan State University, 1983.

Weber, Max, The Methodology of Social Sciences (E.A. Shills and H.A. Finch, eds.). New York: The Free Press, 1949.

IRAN AND THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY. Edited by ANOUSHIRAVAN EHTESHAMI and MANSHOUR VARASTEH. London, Routledge, 1991. 191pp. $35.00.

NOMAD: A YEAR IN THE LIFE OF A QASHQA'I TRIBESMAN IN IRAN. By LOIS BECK. Berkeley and Los Angeles, University of California Press, 1991. 489pp. 4 maps, 43 photographs, 9 tables.

THE POLITICAL, SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF NORTHERN CYPRUS. Edited by C.H. DODD. Hemingford Grey, Eothen Press, 1993. 382pp. £24.95 (pb).

ANTI‐CHRISTIAN POLEMIC IN EARLY ISLAM. ABU ‘ISA AL‐WARRAQ'S ‘AGAINST THE TRINITY’. Edited and translated by DAVID THOMAS. (University of Cambridge Oriental Publications, 45.) Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1992. ix, 218pp.

EARLY PHILOSOPHICAL SHIISM: THE ISMAILI NEOPLATONISM OF ABU YA'QUB AL‐SIJISTANI. By PAUL E. WALKER. (Cambridge Studies in Islamic Civilization.) Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1993. 203pp. £30.

THE SHI'IS OF IRAQ. By YITZHAK NAKASH. Princeton University Press, Princeton NJ, 1994. 312pp. £25.

MAHMUD SHALTUT AND ISLAMIC MODERNISM. By KATE ZEBIRI. Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1993. viii, 200pp. £27.50.

ISLAM, ECONOMICS AND SOCIETY. By SYED NAWAB HAIDER NAQVI. London, Kegan Paul International, 1994. xxv, 176pp. £35.00.

RELIGION IN THIRD WORLD POLITICS. By JEFF HAYNES. Buckingham, Open University Press, 1993. x, 166pp. £12.99 (pb); £37.50 (hb).

A SYNTAX OF SAN'ANI ARABIC. By JANET C.E. WATSON. (Semitica Viva, 13.) Wiesbaden, Harrassowitz, 1993. xxii, 454pp.; DM 148.

AN INTRODUCTION TO PERSIAN. By W.M. THACKSTON. Revised Third Edition. Bethesda, Maryland, Iranbooks, 1993. 287pp. $25.00.

MIDDLE EASTERN LIVES: THE PRACTICE OF BIOGRAPHY AND SELF‐NARRATIVE. Edited by MARTIN KRAMER. Syracuse, Syracuse University Press, 1991. viii, 167pp. $19.95 (hb).

HAGIA SOPHIA FROM THE AGE OF JUSTINIAN TO THE PRESENT. Edited by ROBERT MARK and AHMET ?. ÇAKMAK. Cambridge and New York, Cambridge University Press, 1992. 255pp. Numerous illustrations.

THE ARMS AND ARMOUR OF ARABIA. By ROBERT ELGOOD. Aldershot, Scolar Press, 1994. ix, 138pp. £75.00.     

C: Reviews and notes: Bibliographies and works of reference

FIHRIS MAKHTUTAT MAKTABAT MAKKA AL‐MUKARRAMA: QISM AL‐QUR'AN WA‐'ULUMIH; QISM AL‐TARIKH = HANDLIST OF MANUSCRIPTS IN THE LIBRARY OF MAKKA AL‐MUKARRAMA: QUR'AN AND QUR'ANIC SCIENCES; HISTORY SECTION. Prepared by MUHAMMAD AL‐HABIB al‐HILA. London, Al‐Furqan Islamic Heritage Foundation, 1994. 2 vols. Each 145 pp. Col. facsims. £18 each.

FIHRIS MAKHTUTAT BA'D AL‐MAKTABAT AL‐KHASSA FI AL‐YAMAN. Compiled by ‘ABD ALLAH MUHAMMAD AL‐HABSHI. Edited by CHULYAN YUHASIN (JULIAN JOHANSEN). London, Al‐Furqan Islamic Heritage Foundation, 1994. 8, 506pp. £24.

DIE PERSISCHE HANDSCHRIFTEN DER UNIVERSITÄTSBIBLIOTHEK HEIDELBERG. By SEYFEDDIN NAJMABADI. (Heidelberger Bibliotheksschriften, 46.) Heidelberg: Universitätsbibliothek Heidelberg, 1990. [iii], ix, 126pp. 5 facsim. plates.

CHRESTOMATHIE DE PAPYROLOGIE ARABE. DOCUMENTS RELATIFS A LA VIE PRIVEE, SOCIALE ET ADMINISTRATIVE DANS LES PREMIERS SIECLES ISLAMIQUES. Préparée par ADOLF GROHMANN. Retravaillée et élargie par RAIF GEORGES KHOURY. (Handbuch der Orientalistik. Erste Abteilung. Der Nahe und der Mittlere Osten. Ergänzungsband II, zweiter Halbband.) Leiden, Brill, 1993. x, 260pp. 34 plates. Hf1. 220.‐

ARABISCHE BRIEFE AUS DEM 7.‐10. JAHRHUNDERT. By WERNER DIEM. (Corpus Papyrorum Raineri Archeducis Austriae, herausgegeben von der Generaldirektion der Österreichischen Nationalbibliothek, Band XVI.) Vienna, Hollinek, 1993. Textband, 109 pp., Tafelband, 35 plates.

A WORLD WITHIN: JEWISH LIFE AS REFLECTED IN MUSLIM COURT DOCUMENTS FROM THE SIJILL OF JERUSALEM (XVIth CENTURY). By AMNON COHEN. 2 vols. Philadelphia, PA, University of Pennsylvania, Center for Judaic Studies, 1994 [Jewish Quarterly Review, Supplement 1994]. Vol. 1, 212pp.; Vol. 2, 375pp. (facsimiles).

A GLOSSARY OF SUFI TECHNICAL TERMS. Compiled by ‘ABD AL‐RAZZAQ al‐QASHANI. Trans, from the Arabic by NABIL SAFWAT; revised and edited by DAVID PENDLEBURY. London, The Octagon Press, 1991. xvii (English text); 167pp. (Arabic text). £20.

ARABIC‐ENGLISH AND ENGLISH‐ARABIC DICTIONARIES IN THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. Compiled by GEORGE DIMITRI SELIM. (Near East Series, 5.) Washington, Library of Congress, 1992. 213pp. US$6.50

CHRISTIAN ARABIC OF BAGHDAD. By FARIDA ABU‐HAIDAR. (Semitica Viva, Band 7.) Wiesbaden, Harrassowitz, 1991. IX, 203pp. DM 78.‐

ARABIC LOANWORDS IN ETHIOPIAN SEMITIC. By WOLF LESLAU. Wiesbaden, Harrossowitz, 1990. xvii, 373pp. DM98.‐

THE MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA 1995. London, Europa Publications, 1994. xx, 1022pp. £160.

UMWELTPROBLEME IM VORDEREN ORIENT: EINE AUSWAHL‐BIBLIOGRAPHIE = ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES IN THE NEAR AND MIDDLE EAST: A SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY. By GERDA HANSEN. (Dokumentationsdienst Vorderer Orient, Reihe A, 21.) Hamburg, Deutsches Ubersee‐Institut, Übersee‐Dokumentation, Referat Vorderer Orient, 1993. ix, 62pp. DM 13.‐

DER GOLFKRIEG (1990/91): EINE AUSWAHLBIBLIOGRAPHIE = THE GULF WAR (1990/91): A SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY. By INGEBORG OTTO, MARIANNE SCHMIDT‐DUMONT, with an introduction by HANS KRECH. (Dokumentationsdienst Vorderer Orient, Reihe A, 20.) Hamburg, Deutsches Ubersee‐Institut, Übersee‐Dokumentation, Referat Vorderer Orient, 1992. xviii, 314pp. DM38.‐

HISTORICAL DICTIONARY OF LIBYA. Second edition. By RONALD BRUCE ST. JOHN. (African Historical Dictionaries, 33.) Metuchen, The Scarecrow Press, 1991. 192pp. Maps. £18.75.

ETHNIC GROUPS IN THE REPUBLIC OF TURKEY. Edited by PETER ALFORD ANDREWS. (Beihefte zum Tübinger Altas des Vorderen Orients, Reihe B (Geisteswissenschaften) Nr. 60.) Wiesbaden, Reichert, 1989. 659pp.

ARMENIA. Compiled by VREJ NERSES NERSESSIAN. (World Bibliographical Series, 163.) Oxford, Clio Press, 1993. 304pp. Map. £49.50.

WOMEN IN ISLAMIC BIOGRAPHICAL COLLECTIONS: FROM IBN SA'D TO WHO'S WHO. By RUTH RODED. Boulder, Lynne Rienner Publications, 1994. x, 157pp. £28.95

BIBLIOGRAPHY ON WOMEN IN YEMEN. By JOKE BURINGA. Edited by MARTA COLBURN. (Yemen Development Series, no.2.) Westbury, American Institute for Yemeni Studies, 1992. 158pp. US$10.‐     

Memory and taste in the collections and households of the Spanish nobility (nineteenth and early twentieth centuries): an introduction to the topic with some notes on the house of Osuna and the origins of the period room

“Albeit democratic, their coat of arms has pride of place”. Thus Romualdo Nogués defined, in 1890, Spanish collectors of bourgeois origin who had joined the ranks of the aristocracy. A few years later, in 1924, the Duke of Alba’s maiden speech at the Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando justified his personal artistic worthiness on the basis of his ancestors’ collecting activities and the artworks they had amassed.

These two examples set the scene for the research questions studied in this monographic issue. The present introduction offers a bird’s eye view of the phenomenon and continues with a few remarks about the House of Osuna which, as is well known, occupied a pivotal position in Spanish nobility during the whole of the second half of the nineteenth century.     

A. reviews: general

WARFARE IN THE LATIN EAST, 1192–1291. By CHRISTOPHER MARSHALL. (Cambridge Studies in Medieval Life and Thought, fourth series, 17.) Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1992. xiv, 290pp. 7 figures, 9 plates.

MINORITES RELIGIEUSES DANS L'ESPAGNE MEDIEVALE [ = Revue du Monde Musulman et de la Méditerranée, 63–4]. Aix‐en‐Provence, Edisud, 1992. 292 pp. 150FF.

THE TRANSMISSION OF KNOWLEDGE IN MEDIEVAL CAIRO. By JONATHAN BERKEY. Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1992. x, 238pp. $39.50.

PRAGMATISM IN THE AGE OF JIHAD: THE PRECOLONIAL STATE OF BUNDU. By MICHAEL A. GOMEZ. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1992. xiii, 252 pp. £35.00.

THE CHURCH OF THE EAST AND THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. A HISTORY OF THE ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY'S ASSYRIAN MISSION. By J.F. COAKLEY. Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1992. £45.00.

WOMEN, ISLAM AND THE STATE. By DENIZ KANDIYOTI. London, Macmillan, 1991. 271pp. + index.

MARRIAGE ON TRIAL: A STUDY OF ISLAMIC FAMILY LAW. By ZIBA MIRHOSSEINI. (Society and Culture in Modern Middle East Series.) London, I.B. Tauris, 1993. 200 pp. + notes and index.

WOMEN IN THE MIDDLE EAST: PERCEPTIONS, REALITIES AND STRUGGLES FOR LIBERATION. Edited by HALEH AFSHAR and MARY MAYNARD. Basingstoke, Macmillan, 1993. xiv, 250pp.

WRITING WOMEN'S WORLDS: BEDOUIN STORIES. By LILA ABU‐LUGHOD. Berkeley, Los Angeles and Oxford, University of California Press, 1993. xxiii, 266 pp., bibliography. $30.00 (hb), $12.00 (pb).

NASSER'S BLESSED MOVEMENT: EGYPT'S FREE OFFICERS AND THE JULY REVOLUTION. By JOEL GORDON. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1992. vii, 254 pp.

WAR AND PEACE IN ISRAELI POLITICS: LABOR PARTY POSITIONS ON NATIONAL SECURITY. By EFRAIM INBAR. Boulder and London, Lynne Rien‐ner, 1991. 184pp., appendices. £21.95.

TURKEY AND THE WEST: CHANGING POLITICAL AND CULTURAL IDENTITIES. Edited by METIN HEPER, AYSE ÖNCÜ and HEINZ KRAMER. London/New York, Tauris, 1993. xiv, 289 pp.

TURKEY'S NEW GEOPOLITICS: FROM THE BALKANS TO WESTERN CHINA. By GRAHAM E. FULLER and IAN O. LESSER, with PAUL B. HENZE and J.F. BROWN. Boulder and Oxford, Westview Press, 1993. xv, 197pp.

THE SOCIALIST MOVEMENT IN TURKEY, 1960–1980. By IGOR P. LIPOVSKY. Leiden, Brill, 1992. ix, 190pp. $48.75.

ISLAM IN MODERN TURKEY: RELIGION, POLITICS AND LITERATURE IN A SECULAR STATE. Edited by RICHARD TAPPER. London/New York: Tauris, 1991. v, 314 pp.

SIBAWAYH THE PHONOLOGIST: A CRITICAL STUDY OF THE PHONETIC AND PHONOLOGICAL THEORY OF SIBAWAYH AS PRESENTED IN HIS TREATISE AL‐KITAB. By A.A. AL‐NASSIR. London and New York, Kegan Paul International, 1993. xx, 130 pp.

AL‐MADKHAL ILā TAQWīM AL‐LISāN WA‐TA'LīM AL‐BAYāN. By IBN HISHāM AL‐LAKHMī. Edited by JOSÉ PÉREZ LÁZARO. (Fuentes Arábico‐Hispanas, no. 6.) Madrid, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas & Insti‐tuto de Cooperatión con el Mundo Árabe, 1990. 2 vols. 219; 599pp.