Author: Alexander McNabb
Paperback: 265 pages
Publisher: Alexander McNabb
ISBN-13: 978-1466465718

Review by Samira Quraishy

Jordan, described as a new "emerging market" with "high human development", is a forward thinking, predominantly Muslim state. It has signed an array of treaties and is the beneficiary of millions of dollars of foreign aid, as well as military equipment. It finds itself at the heart of the ongoing Middle East conflict, as a handful of Palestinians and Israelis continue to negotiate and play with the lives of millions.

Author: Mabroka al-Werfalli
Paperback: 240 pages
Publisher: Ithaca Press (2011)
ISBN-13: 978-0-86372-372-8 (Hardback)

Reviewed by Zulaikha Abdullah

This is Dr Mabrouka al-Werfalli's timely offering for readers to gain a better understanding of Libya's complex political, social and economic milieu in the wake of the 2011 revolution. The detailed findings of this empirical work are corroborated by Libya's mass uprising and the bloody ensuing battle to wrest power from a regime popularly perceived as bereft of the moral and political legitimacy to rule. As a lecturer in the Department of Political Sciences at Libya's Garyounis University over the last two decades, Dr al-Werfalli was well-placed to analyse and discern the sources of Libya's shift towards the political discontent, resentment and alienation which led to the ousting of the Gaddafi junta. Al-Werfalli brings the full weight of her knowledge and experience to bear in this book which could have been read as a presentiment of events that were to come.

Author: Clayton E. Swisher
Paperback: 318 pages
Publisher: Hesperus Press Limited (2011)
ISBN: 978 1 84391 353 5 (Paperback)

Reviewed by Rt Hon Lord David Steel of Aikwood KT KBE DL

Clayton Swisher's fascinating publication of the Palestinian Papers (leaked to and broadcast by Al Jazeera and The Guardian) is subtitled pessimistically "The End of the Road".

His basic thesis is that the papers so reveal the craven negotiating stance of the Fatah hierarchy that the attempt to secure a two-state solution is fatally wounded and should be abandoned. There are two things wrong with that suggestion. First, and most important, no one has put forward an alternative approach to peace, though I recognise that he is far from alone in believing that the two-state dream is dead.

Second, the book was published just before the Fatah/Hamas accord was agreed (and predictably denounced by PM Netanyahu) and before we have seen the full outcome of the so called Arab spring. I visited Cairo after the fall of Mubarak and found Egypt - having talked both to Presidential hopefuls and the youth coalition - in exciting but positive turmoil.

Author: Omar Barghouti
Paperback: 312 pages
Publisher: Haymarket Books (2011)
ISBN: 978-1-60846-114-1 (Paperback)

Reviewed by Dr Hanan Chehata

Omar Barghouti is a founding member of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel and so he is in a perfect position to write a book charting the growth and success of the BDS movement 5 years after its inception. Whether you are new to the Palestinian cause or a long-time supporter and seasoned activist, this book is the perfect way to come up to speed with every aspect of the BDS movement.