The next founders : voices of democracy in the Middle East

Before September 11, 2001, we Americans did not think much about freedom or democracy in the Middle East. U.S. policy toward the region aimed to assure a reliable flow of oil, to encourage peace between the Arabs and Israel, and above all, during the Cold War, to prevent our rival from gaining any strategic advantage over us. 9/11 impelled us to reconsider. Now, as we are entangled in conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Mid-East's political and social quandaries lie at the very core of our foreign policy objectives. And yet, after years of blood and fortune spent on the democratization of t.;Introduction Seedlings in the Desert; The ProtesterSaudi Arabia:Wajeha Al-Huwaider; The Politician Iraq: Mithal al-Alusi; The Revolutionist Iran: Mohsen Sazegara; The Publisher Egypt: Hisham Kassem; The Activist Palestine: Bassem Eid; The Feminist Kuwait: Rola Dashti; The Dissident Syria: Ammar Abdulhamid; Conclusion Models for a Rising Generation; Endnotes; Index; Photo Credits. Contents 5 Introduction Seedlings in the Desert 7 The ProtesterSaudi Arabia:Wajeha Al-Huwaider 15 The Politician Iraq: Mithal al-Alusi 51 The Revolutionist Iran: Mohsen Sazegara 99 The Publisher Egypt: Hisham Kassem 159 The Activist Palestine: Bassem Eid 207 The Feminist Kuwait: Rola Dashti 255 The Dissident Syria: Ammar Abdulhamid 291 Conclusion Models for a Rising Generation 339 Endnotes 351 Index 367 Photo Credits 379

The Next Founders brings to light the stories of seven remarkable people, six Arabs and an Iranian. Five are men; two, women. Four are Sunnis, two are Shiites, and the seventh is mixed. Their lives revolve around a sense of mission, and while the angles from which they attack it are varied, this mission is the same for all seven--to make their countries more free and democratic.

Presents profiles of seven pro-democratic individuals in the Middle East, including Mithal al-Alusi of Iraq, Hisham Kassem of Egypt, and Rola Dashti of Kuwait.