Fouad Ajami, one of the world¹s foremost authorities on Middle Eastern
politics and the recipient of the 2006 Bradley Prize for Outstanding
Achievement and the National Humanities Medal of 2006, offers a
brilliant, illuminating, and lyrical portrait of the ongoing struggle
for Iraq and of the American encounter with that volatile Arab land.
In a new introduction, the author discusses the many major events that
have taken place since the publication of the hardcover, including the
implications of Saddam¹s execution, the Baker-Hamilton Commission, and
the return to Iraq of General David Petraeus. He renders unsparingly the
growing American disillusionment with the war and the struggle within
Iraq between those keen to hold on to the promise of the new country
called up by America¹s war and others determined to thwart that promise
and overwhelm it with sectarian strife. Ajami situates the current
unrest within the context of Iraq¹s recent history of dictatorship and
its rich, diverse cultural heritage. He applies his incisive political
commentary, his broad and deep historical view, his mastery of the
Arabic language and Arabic sources, and his lustrous prose to every
aspect of his subject, wresting a coherent, fascinating, and textured
picture from the media storm of fragmented information. The Foreigner¹s
Gift is the book we all need to read in order to understand what is
happening in Iraq today and what the future might hold for all of us.
