Monthly Archives: December 2023

Book Review: The Struggle For Iran

Posted on December 14, 2023 by nathanalbright

The Struggle For Iran, by Christopher de Bellaigue The author, in this collection of essays written between 1999 and late 2006, tries to make a lot out of the misunderstandings that are borne out of distance between the United States … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Black Wave

Posted on December 13, 2023 by nathanalbright

Black Wave: Saudi Arabia, Iran, And The Forty-Year Rivalry Unraveled Culture, Religion, And Collective Memory In The Middle East, by Kim Ghattas It is important to remember that the author is a leftist who thinks of herself as a centrist and … Continue reading →

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Waiting To Install

Posted on December 12, 2023 by nathanalbright

During the 1990s, Whitney Houston acted and sang in three movies, to diminishing returns as a popular recording artist. Early in the decade, she starred in and recorded the vast majority of the soundtrack for The Bodyguard, alongside non-singer Kevin … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Empire Of The Mind

Posted on December 12, 2023 by nathanalbright

Empire Of The Mind: A History Of Iran, by Michael Axworthy It is perhaps easy to understand why, in light of the more than 40 years of intense hostility between the United States and the Islamic Republic of Iran, that … Continue reading →

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Book Review: The Nine Lives Of Pakistan

Posted on December 11, 2023 by nathanalbright

The Nine Lives Of Pakistan: Dispatches From A Precarious State, by Declan Walsh This is a book whose ominous form, namely the author seeking to untangle which of his hot-button subjects got him thrown out of Pakistan, while simultaneously reflecting … Continue reading →

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The Hanging Of Judas

Posted on December 10, 2023 by nathanalbright

[Note: The following is the prepared text to a sermonette given to the Portland congregation of the United Church of God on Sabbath, December 9, 2023.] One of the key biblical rules of biblical interpretation that comes from the Bible … Continue reading →

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We All Live Dangerous Lives

Posted on December 9, 2023 by nathanalbright

It might have seemed like a throwaway line at first. We have an old-school Pakistani in favor of civilian rule in a nation long plagued by military coups and foreign conflict with India, to say nothing about its contemporary problems … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Saving Capitalism For The Many, Not The Few

Posted on December 9, 2023 by nathanalbright

Saving Capitalism For The Many, Not The Few, by Robert B. Reich Knowing what I do about the author and his history as a Clinton-era Treasury Secretary, it was pretty obvious to see where this book was going to go, … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Opposing Viewpoints: The Middle East

Posted on December 8, 2023 by nathanalbright

Opposing Viewpoints: The Middle East, edited by David M. Haugen, Susan Musser, and Kacy Lovelace As someone who is a fan of the Opposing Viewpoints, I have long enjoyed the way that this particular series gives different viewpoints that can … Continue reading →

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Whose Thousand And One Nights?

Posted on December 7, 2023 by nathanalbright

This evening, shortly before heading to dinner, I was chatting with a dear Persian friend of mine about her tendency to bring up important questions about grammar, ask for me to provide more information about them, only to immediately fall … Continue reading →

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