Category Archives: International Relations

Implausible Deniability

Posted on April 19, 2024 by nathanalbright

From time to time it is important to remember that denial is not only a river that runs through Egypt, but a river that potentially runs through every human heart and mind. Such is the case, it would appear, with … Continue reading →

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Book Review: All Strangers Are Kin

Posted on April 16, 2024 by nathanalbright

All Strangers Are Kin: Adventures In Arabic And The Arab World, by Zora O’Neill My generally positive review of this book that I give is dependent on my reading of the author’s self-presentation as being deliberately critical. To the extent … Continue reading →

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Escalatory Retaliation, Or How History Feels When It Is Being Written

Posted on April 14, 2024 by nathanalbright

I happened to glance at my phone as I was getting ready to leave services and go to dinner, and found that on both Skype and Telegram, a dear friend of mine (who happens to live near the center of … Continue reading →

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Book Review: City Of Thorns

Posted on March 30, 2024 by nathanalbright

City Of Thorns: Nine Lives In The World’s Largest Refugee Camp, by Ben Rawlence Only once in my life (so far) I have visited a refugee camp, and I was there with a specific purpose, spent a few hours, observed … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Rome And Persia

Posted on March 16, 2024 by nathanalbright

Rome And Persia: The Seven Hundred Year Rivalry, by Adrian Goldworthy For a large amount of world history, Persia has been a world power, and this was especially true in the ancient world, where three Persian dynasties ruled over large … Continue reading →

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Book Review: America And Iran

Posted on March 14, 2024 by nathanalbright

America And Iran: A History: 1720 To The Present, John Ghazvinian One of the more interesting insights to come from this wonderful book is that for the vast majority of the history of interaction between Iran and the United States, … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Xenophon’s Retreat

Posted on March 11, 2024 by nathanalbright

Xenophon’s Retreat: Greece, Persia, And The End Of The Golden Age, by Robin Waterfield What is the value of a book like this, which seeks to summarize Anabasis by Xenophon, a classic work that had world-historical importance in showing to … Continue reading →

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Book Review: The Ungrateful Refugee

Posted on February 25, 2024 by nathanalbright

The Ungrateful Refugee: What Immigrants Never Tell You, by Dina Nayeri It is perhaps a bit ungenerous to say that a book called The Ungrateful Refugee would have been far better had it not been written by an ungrateful refugee. … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Iran Rising

Posted on February 22, 2024 by nathanalbright

Iran Rising: The Survival And Future Of The Islamic Republic, by Amin Saikal For some people, at least, the continued survival of the Islamic Republic of Iran, in the face of the frequent opposition of its population to the rule … Continue reading →

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The Trouble With Endonyms

Posted on January 30, 2024 by nathanalbright

One of the most profound issues of contemporary society that has not been well-examined is the contemporary passion for endonyms. People are obsessed with the names that they call themselves, and disinclined to see any legitimacy or validity or use in … Continue reading →

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