Laurent Murawiec, The Wacky World of French Intellectuals
Who is behind the rise of Islamism? The United States!

Graham E. Fuller and Rend Rahim Francke, Is Shi'ism Radical?
Islam's minority sect has an undeserved bad rep

Gregg Rickman, Palestinian Diplomacy-Gorbachev's Legacy
His plans for the Soviet Union flopped; but they worked for Arafat

Michael A. Rubin, Iran's "Dialogue of Civilizations"-A First-Hand Account
A group of American students experiences the true Iran

Arab Politics

Saliba Sarsar, Can Democracy Prevail?
Yes, but from a rocky start, and not easily

Hilal Khashan, Revitalizing Arab Nationalism
Five pointers for Arabs to get with the program of modernity

Sarah Yizraeli, How Important Is Saudi Oil?
Much less than it used to be, but still enough to concern the world

INTERVIEW

Richard Butler, Why Saddam Husayn Loves the Bomb
And the trouble likely brewing in Iraq

BOOK REVIEWS

Patrick Clawson, Reflections on Water
Why the water alarmists are wrong

DOCUMENTS

Is Middle Eastern Terrorism Waning?
Yes, but the South Asian variant is waxing

The Taliban Addresses Americans
Afghanistan's rulers explain East Coast hurricanes

FDR Addresses the Arabs
A surprising lyric appeal from the Washington bureaucracy

CORRESPONDENCE

David Basch