Faleh A. Jabar is a Research Fellow at Birkbeck College, University of London. His works include Ayatollahs, Sufis and Ideologues; State, Religion and Social Movements in Iraq; and Tribes and Power in the Middle East (Saqi Books). Saqi Books will also soon publish his Shi’ism, Nation and State, Cultural Identities in Iraq.

Recent articles

Edward Said’s work was both championed and traduced in the ‘orientalist’ world that formed much of its subject. Faleh Jabar sees in this reception a paradox that makes Said himself a character in an unfinished book: the struggle for reason among the Arabs.

What should be done about Saddam Hussein’s regime? Two Iraqi exiles of different generations and views discuss the best way forward for a country now on the brink of decisive change.

Saddam Hussein has used the complex social and political landscape of Iraq to create a system of rule highly resistant to peaceful change. An intelligent strategy for a better Iraq requires not a military crusade, but long-term thinking and creative solutions – from the offer of exile to Saddam and his clan to reviving the real economy through a mini-Marshall Plan.