A. Reviews: general

THE HISTORY OF AL‐TABARI (TA'RIKH AL‐RUSUL WA ‘L‐MULUK) [An annotated translation] (Bibliotheca Persica) (SUNY Series in Near Eastern Studies):

VOLUME VI: MUHAMMAD AT MECCA. Translated and annotated by W. MONTGOMERY WATT and M.V. McDONALD. Albany, State University of New York Press, 1988. xlvi, 178pp.

VOLUME VII: THE FOUNDATION OF THE COMMUNITY [MUHAMMAD AT ALMADINA A.D. 622–626/HIJRAH‐4 A.H.]. Translated and annotated by W. MONTGOMERY WATT and M.V. McDONALD. Albany, State University of New York Press, 1987. xxxviii, 182pp.

AL‐TABARI: THE EARLY ‘ABBASI EMPIRE. Translated [and annotated] by JOHN ALDEN WILLIAMS:

VOLUME 1: THE REIGN OF ABU JA'FAR AL‐MAN?UR A.D. 754–775. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1988. xx, 263pp. £30.00 (US $49.50).

VOLUME 2: THE SON AND GRANDSONS OF AL‐MAN?UR. THE REIGNS OF AL‐MAHDI, AL‐HADI AND HARUN AL‐RASHID A.D. 775–808. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1989. xviii, 342pp. £35.00 (US $54.50).

AL‐FUSTAT: ITS FOUNDATION AND EARLY URBAN DEVELOPMENT. By WLADYSLAW D. KUBIAK. Cairo, The American University in Cairo Press, 1987. 186pp.

THE BRITISH EMPIRE IN THE MIDDLE EAST 1945–1951: ARAB NATIONALISM, THE UNITED STATES AND POSTWAR IMPERIALISM. By W. ROGER LOUIS. Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1984. xix, 803pp. £45.00.

ISLAM IN A WORLD OF NATION‐STATES. By J. PISCATORI. Cambridge, Cambridge U.P., in association with RIIA, 1986. 193pp. H/B: £25.00. P/B: £10.95.

GADDAFI'S WORLD DESIGN: LIBYAN FOREIGN POLICY, 1969–1987. By R.B. ST JOHN. London, Saqi Books, 1987. 184pp. £14.95.

ÄGYPTEN UNTER MUBARAK; IDENTITÄT UND NATIONALES INTERESSE. By GUDRUN KRÄMER. Baden‐Baden, Nomos Verlaggesellschaft, 1986. 230pp. £29.95.

MERCHANTS OF ESSAOUIRA: URBAN SOCIETY AND IMPERIALISM IN SOUTHWESTERN MOROCCO, 1844–1886. By D.J. SCHROETER. (Cambridge Middle East Library.) Cambridge University Press, 1988. 343pp., 9 photographs, 17 figures, 7 maps, 20 tables. £30.00.

THE MIDDLE EASTERN VILLAGE: CHANGING ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL RELATIONS. Edited by RICHARD LAWLESS. London‐New York‐Sydney, Croom Helm, 1987. 304pp. 29 tables, 30 figures, 20 plates. £27.50.

CHANGE ON THE EUPHRATES: VILLAGERS, TOWNSMEN AND EMPLOYEES IN NORTHEAST SYRIA. By ANNIKA RABO. Stockholm, Department of Social Anthropology, University of Stockholm, 1986. viii, 222pp.

EDUCATION AND SOCIAL CHANGE IN EGYPT AND TURKEY: A STUDY IN HISTORICAL SOCIOLOGY. By BILL WILLIAMSON. London, Macmillan Press, 1987. vii, 242pp. £35.00.

AL SABAH: HISTORY AND GENEALOGY OF KUWAIT'S RULING FAMILY 1752–1987. By ALAN RUSH. London, Ithaca Press, 1987. [x], 304pp. Illustrations, genealogical tables. £29.50.

OPEC: TWENTY‐FIVE YEARS OF PRICES AND POLITICS (Cambridge Energy Studies). By IAN SKEET. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1988. 263pp. Maps, tables. £25.00.

THE NEGLECTED GARDEN: THE POLITICS AND ECOLOGY OF AGRICULTURE IN IRAN. By KEITH McLACHLAN. London, I.B. Tauris, 1988. xxi, 266pp. 28 maps and figures. £24.50.

CHALLENGE OF ISLAMIC ECONOMICS. By MUHAMMAD AKRAM KHAN. Lahore, All‐Pakistan Islamic Education Congress, 1985. 93pp. $3.00.

THEORETICAL STUDIES IN ISLAMIC BANKING AND FINANCE. Edited by MOHSIN S. KHAN and ABBAS MIRAKHOR. Houston, Institute for Research and Islamic Studies, 1987. xvi, 245pp. $14.95.

RELIGION UND POLITIK BEI DEN SCHI'ITISCHEN HAZ#afARA IN AFGHANISTAN, IRAN UND PAKISTAN. ETHNIZITÄT UND GESELLSCHAFT: PROBLEME ETHNISCHER GRENZZIEHUNG IN GESELLSCHAFTEN DES VORDEREN UND MITTLEREN ORIENTS. By ROLF BINDEMANN. (Freie Universität Berlin Forschungsgebiets‐schwerpunkt, Occasional Papers No.7.) Berlin, Verlag Das Arabische Buch, 1987. 104pp.

ISLAM AND RESISTANCE IN AFGHANISTAN. By OLIVIER ROY. (Cambridge Middle East Library.) Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1986. 253pp. £30.00 (hardback), £10.95 (paperback).

THE CONTEMPORARY TURKISH ECONOMY. By Z.Y. HERSHLAG. London, Routledge, 1988. xi, 178pp. £30.00.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND SOCIAL CONSCIOUSNESS: TURKEY UNDER DEVELOPMENTALISM. By RUSEN KELES and HIROMASA KANO. Tokyo, Institute of Developing Economies Middle East Series No.17, 1986. iv, 201pp.     

The Bleak House of Surrogacy: Broidy v. St Helen's and Knowsley Health Authority

This note examines the British case of Broidy v. St Helen's andKnowsley Health Authority in which Margaret Broidy was unsuccessful in anegligence action against the defendant Health Authority following an emergency caesareanoperation in which a hysterectomy had been performed as `essential'. Of particularfeminist interest is the fact that Broidy's claim for, inter alia, the costs of asurrogacy arrangement to be carried out in California was refused on the basis that it wasnot reasonable – the chances of success of the surrogacy arrangement being deemed tooremote. Set within the context of an increasingly prolific number ofworld-wide surrogacy stories, the Broidy decision is analysed as providing a recentillustration of some of the difficult implications of the reproductive option which surrogacyhas now become.     

Deportation, Detention & Torture by Proxy: Foreign National Terror Suspects in the UK

In many ways his article confronts the Sociologist C. Wright Mills’s famous injunction on turning private troubles into public issues. However, this is a trickier process than usual as the victims at the centre of these private troubles are not children, women, lesbian, gays, the elderly, or the disabled. The victims here are what Stan Cohen has described as ‘impure victims’, in that they are individuals who are suspected of being ‘involved’ in ‘terrorist’ activities. The private troubles these impure victims are experiencing are the loss of many of the rights most of us enjoy (for example, the right to liberty and the right to a fair trial). The public issue that will be examined here is what étienne Balibar refers to as the reality of the extreme violence of the State in contemporary societies against ‘radically excluded’ individuals. This chapter is an examination of the long and winding road to the Government achieving its over-riding ambition in the war on terror in the UK: the deportation of terror suspects to regimes where (despite diplomatic assurances) torture is inevitable.

The Public Sector Reform Movement: Mapping the Global Policy Network

Public sector reform in both developed and developing countries has now become a routine matter of public policy—reform is almost continuous, if not always successful. While the role of international transfer agents such as the World Bank and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in promoting reforms has often been noted, there has been no comprehensive mapping of the global network on public sector reform. This article makes a first attempt to map the close to 100 organizations that make up a loose global network around public administration and governance. It then provides a brief history of the evolution of the network, and the key events that encouraged a substantial degree of coherence among its members. It examines the practices and tools that are specific to this global public policy network, and concludes with some observations on policy transfer models. The article shows that in trying to understand the dynamics of public administration reform, we need to pay greater attention to this network, its members, and its influence over national policy priorities.     

Australia and the Developing World under the Abbott Coalition Government

The Abbott Coalition government, elected to office in Australia in September 2013, has not had a major focus on the developing world. Nevertheless, in terms of substance this government has been engaged with a number of issues that relate to, or have implications for, the developing world. At a general level these issues concern development cooperation, refugees and asylum seekers, and climate change. At a regional level Australia has had particular concerns relating to Indonesia and the Pacific island countries; there has also been some focus on India and Indian Ocean regionalism. Beyond Australia’s immediate region there has been engagement in some issues relating to Southwest Asia and the Middle East, and Africa. The government’s approach to issues concerning the developing world reflects its pragmatism based on a perception of Australian interests and an identification with the countries of the developed world as led by the United States.