A Rage for Order

Starred review from March 28, 2016
Veteran correspondent Worth traces the “Arab Spring” through five countries, from the heady idealism of 2011 to the largely grim aftermath. Significantly, he does so through the stories of individuals rather than groups or sects, challenging simplistic, monolithic conceptions of rival factions. Through this approach, readers can better understand, for example, why a charismatic Egyptian doctor remained a loyal member of the extremist Muslim Brotherhood even after its crude efforts to theocratize the country prompted a military coup backed by secular liberals. Elsewhere, Worth interviews Libyan militiamen who dream of a nation of laws while rounding up former Gadhafi loyalists at gunpoint. He tracks former best friends in Syria—one Alawi, one Sunni—as violence and fear undercut efforts to straddle sectarian divides. Worth recounts the story of Yemen, a failed state where decades of bitter local clashes presaged the region’s current agonies, through a longtime dissident’s eyes. Finally, he shows Islamist and secular Tunisian politicians haltingly attempt to compromise and avoid the upheavals afflicting other Arab states. Worth provides no easy path forward. Instead, he skillfully presents the competing perspectives in play to explain the daunting impediments to stable states in the present-day Middle East. Agent: Sarah Chalfant, Wylie Agency.

June 3, 1988
The author of Johnny's Song (which earned him the title of National Poet Laureate of the Vietnam Veterans of America) attempts to reconcile his Vietnam experiences with his return to America. These poems are a veteran's raw, heartfelt pleas for lasting peace and for a reevaluation of patriotism, nationalism and a government that wars ``as a solution to economics/or as a perpetuation of social justice.'' Verses shift from jarring, often graphic accounts of the atrocities Mason witnessed to strangely peaceful images of his childhood, family and friends. These juxtapositions would be more effective were they not so explicitly spelled out; Mason explains rather than illustrates, and he frequently lapses into didactic sermonizing. Although his message is certainly worthy, Mason's tendency to rely on political rhetoric rather than craft (in ``A Living Memorial,'' for example, he writes, ``It is the courage of America/ and the strength of our world/ that the essence of our patriotism/ is not nationalism,/ it is humanity'') makes his work more appropriate to forms of expression other than poetry. The introduction by film director Oliver Stone adds nothing of value to this volume.

Starred review from February 15, 2016
How the Arab Spring, begun in hope, has resulted in despair. In his debut book, Worth, former chief of the New York Times Beirut bureau, draws on his intimate knowledge of the Middle East to offer a penetrating, unsettling analysis. The protests that marked the Arab Spring began in Tunisia in January 2011; within two weeks, Egypt followed, when thousands surged into Tahrir Square chanting for an end to corruption, abuse, and repression. Outbursts in Yemen, Bahrain, Libya, and Syria ensued, portending sweeping changes in the region. But those changes were far from what the protesters intended. As the author has seen, "the demands for dignity and civic rights have been transformed into conflicts that loosened the very building blocks of social and political belonging." The Arab Spring "was not so much a beginning as an end." Country by country, Worth traces the genesis and aftermath of the protests: new regimes, one after another, enacted fatal mistakes in government; internal rivalries undermined unity; and Islamist extremists gained increasing power over a desperate population. Repeatedly, the author reports, the ousting of repressive governments and "the loosening of state authority" gave rise to civil wars: "People who had trusted each other for decades now saw barriers rising between them. The world was suddenly full of threats to all that was sacred: to the state, to your clan, to God." Fueling the wars was a "virus of religious hatred" that attracted zealots on all sides. Many joined the Islamic State group, whose propaganda--90,000 messages per day on social media in 2014--inspired in some a sense of patriotism and purpose. Among the original protestors in the Arab Spring, many were jailed, renounced politics, or ended up depressed. Worth found one who joined the Islamic State group and died in a suicide bombing. Informing the vivid narrative are many revealing interviews as well as the author's own eyewitness accounts of events. A crucial portrait of a deeply troubled region.

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April 1, 2016
In December 2010, Mohammed Bouazizi, a 26-year-old sidewalk vendor in Tunisia, outraged over the confiscation of his vegetable cart, set himself on fire, a protest that led to mass demonstrations, the overthrow of longtime dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, and the so-called Arab Spring. Some five years later, it is easy to forget that there was a sense of hope then, even exhilaration, as the winds of freedom and democracy seemed irresistible. Today, Egypt labors again under a repressive government. Libya is a chaotic, failed state, and Syria is ravaged by civil war. Only Tunisia seems likely to secure stability and a democratic future. Journalist Worth utilizes his long experience in the Middle East to provide a riveting survey of the origins, course of events, and causes of the dashing of so many of the dreams fueling the uprisings. He concentrates on Egypt, Libya, Syria, Yemen, and Tunisia, and he effectively combines his personal observations with the experience of participants. The result is an informative, if often heartrending, account of events whose consequences are still unfolding.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)

May 15, 2016

The Arab uprisings, or "Arab Spring" as some have referred to them, shook the foundation of several Arab regimes and caused the downfall of governments. Some states, particularly the pro-Western monarchies in the Persian Gulf, adopted highly repressive policies and have, at least for now, succeeded in insulating themselves from the political tremors of these revolts. In this highly readable book, Worth, the former Beirut bureau chief for the New York Times, seeks to explain the fallout of the demonstrations. He doesn't provide a comprehensive history but rather focuses on the collapse of authority and political disintegration in many parts of the Middle East. He accomplishes this with a narrative written through the lens of those whose lives have been affected by the revolutions in Egypt, Libya, Syria, Yemen, and Tunisia. The prose is both captivating and informative. Worth illuminates why groups such as the Islamic State (IS) have been able to establish a firm foothold in countries such as Syria and Iraq. VERDICT General readers and policymakers will find this timely volume enlightening. [See Prepub Alert, 10/12/15.]--Nader Entessar, Univ. of South Alabama, Mobile

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 1, 2015

With Tunisia's National Dialogue Quartet having recently won the Nobel Peace Prize, we're thinking harder than ever about what went wrong in the Middle East after the Arab Spring. Enter Worth, former Beirut bureau chief for the New York Times, who uses portraiture to clarify what has unfolded in the region over the last five years, as basic rights lose out to strongman rule and bloody sectarian strife in country after country. Featured individuals include an Egyptian doctor who is loyal to the Muslim Brotherhood yet longs for democracy, and a Libyan rebel who considers whether to kill the Qaddafi underling who tortured his brother to death.

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.