Book reviews

Mysticism and Dissent, Socioreligious Thought in Qajar Iran. By Mangol Bayat. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 1982. xvii + 228 pp.

Roots of Revolution. By Nikki Keddie. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1981. xii + 321 pp.

Islamic Values and Worldview: Khomeini on Man, the State and International Politics. By Farhang Rajaee. Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 1983. 148 pp. + notes.     

Metallurgical study on some Sasanian silver coins in Sistan Museum

Elemental analyses and microstructural studies of historical metal artifacts provide researchers with invaluable and priceless information about metal extraction technology and the procedure of creating artifacts. In addition, the information is helpful for knowing about the metallurgical processes of the artifacts. This study was conducted by a microscopic examination and elemental analyses of seven Sasanian silver coins preserved in the Sistan Anthropology Museum, Iran. For the purpose of this study, three methods were employed: first, the proton induced X-ray emission microanalysis (micro-PIXE), to determine the main and trace elements of the coins; second, scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDS), to perform elemental analysis to identify impurities of the metal; and third, microstructural analysis of the coins which was carried out with an optical microscope (OM). The elemental analyses identified Ca, Cu, Ag, Au, and Pb in the coins. The high quantity of Ag in samples validated the application of advanced and accurate cupellation technology for refining silver and separating impurities from raw ore. The gold concentration in the coins indicated the use of non-galena ore for silver extraction. Additionally, the microstructural analyses of samples pointed to the application of thermo-mechanical processes on coins.     

The Persian Presence in Nineteenth-Century English Poetry: A Taxonomy

This study employs keyword searches of literary databases such as Literature Online (LION) in an attempt to map the image of “Persia” in nineteenth-century English poetry as it was molded by a proliferation of thoughts and ideas in a variety of contexts. Completeness is not possible, of course, but the article aims to identify and explore some of the major categories within which the image of Persia was formed and disseminated in the nineteenth-century. The scope of the study is not confined to a corpus of poetic works that were written specifically on or about “Persia,” but takes account of a broader range of poems, and attends to the structure, texture and variations of the presence of “Persia” in nineteenth-century English poetry.     

The Father's Success and the Son's Failure: Explaining the Growth of Lebanon's Resistance to Syria's Invisible Occupation

In the 15‐year period since the Syrian military entry into Lebanon on June 1, 1976, allegedly to put an end to the civil war that broke out there a year earlier, Syria firmly solidified its control of the country, as evidenced by the signing of the “Treaty of Brotherhood, Cooperation and Coordination between Syria and Lebanon,” on May 22, 1991, which granted Syria a special status. Yet, 14 years later, on April 24, 2005, the Syrian forces withdrew from Lebanon. This article seeks to explain this relatively rapid decline in Syria's standing in Lebanon by examining the strategies of the two Syrian rulers who indirectly controlled this country during those years. It examines what was right in Hafiz al‐Asad's strategy in Lebanon, and what did not work in Bashar's policy. In 2000, the year of Hafiz al‐Asad's death, Syria's status in Lebanon seemed unshakable: 1) Lebanon's president (Emile Lahoud) acted as Damascus's puppet; 2) Hezbollah, the Shi‘a militia Hezbollah largely accepted Syria's authority while it simultaneously tightened its control over southern Lebanon and also began gaining popularity in the rest of the country; and 3) finally the politics of the noble families, which had characterized Lebanon since its establishment, began to gradually give way to a politics where a political figure is measured by the level of his connections to the country's power base in Damascus. Yet, merely five years later, Syria was under immense pressure to withdraw its forces from Lebanon. This suggests that we must look at the difference between the strategies of Hafiz al‐Asad and his son Bashar for controlling Lebanon to better understand the rapid deterioration in Syria's standing in the country. We argue that the difference in the degree of anti‐Syrian pressures from Lebanon's society and political elements between the two tenures is largely rooted in the different strategies that the two Syrian presidents adopted for informally ruling Lebanon. We identify three main areas where Bashar al‐Asad made mistakes due to his failure to continue his father's methods. First, Bashar put all his cards on Hezbollah, thus antagonizing all the other groups which resented that Shi‘a dominance. Second, in stark contrast to his father, Bashar distanced himself from the regular management of Lebanon's ethnic politics. Hafiz al‐Asad made sure that all the leaders of the different ethnic groups would visit Damascus and update him on their inter‐ethnic conflicts, and then he would be the one who would either arbitrate between them or, for expediency reasons, exacerbate these feuds. Once the ethnic leaders had to manage without Damascus, they learned to get along, making him far less indispensable for the running of the country. Finally, Bashar, unlike his father, did not make a real effort to gain international and regional legitimacy (or at least de‐facto acceptance) for Syria's continued control over Lebanon. Most conspicuously, while Hafiz participated in the First Gulf War against Iraq, his son supported Sunni rebels who fought against the United States‐led coalition forces there. This foreign acquiescence was significant since the Lebanese felt they had a backing when they demanded Syria's withdrawal in 2005. These different strategic approaches of the two rulers meant that the father's policies wisely laid the ground for some of the most controversial measures which were needed as part of any attempt to monopolize control over another country, such as Lebanon (assassinating popular but too independent‐minded Lebanese presidents/prime ministers or extending tenures of loyalist ones), whereas the son's policies myopically failed to do so properly. Indeed, the article will show that while both the father and the son took these same controversial measures, the responses of the Lebanese were completely different. Admittedly, some historical developments increased the Lebanese propensity to rise up against Syria, and these meant that Bashar did in fact face a harder task than his father in maintaining Syria's informal occupation. The Israeli withdrawal from its so‐called “security zone” in south Lebanon meant that one justification for the Syrian presence was gone. More importantly, the risk of renewed eruption of the civil war (which in turn had meant for many years a greater willingness by the locals to tolerate the Syrian presence which prevented the war's resumption) declined significantly due to a variety of processes that could not have been halted even with better “management” of the interethnic strife from Damascus (i.e., making sure that the ethnic groups remained in deep conflict with each other). Nevertheless, as we will show, Bashar's mistakes played a crucial role in bringing the rival ethnic groups together by making Damascus their joint enemy.     

Israel: Divided by Religion and Education

Israel is a democracy splintered by religion and education. Two of its fastest growing religious groups, ultra‐Orthodox and Muslim Israeli Arabs, are not learning democratic principles or marketable skills that enable them to assist in the economic development of the country. Even Israelis who are attending secular and religious Israeli government schools are academically behind in mathematics as measured on 2011 international achievement tests of PISA and TIMSS. The history of religion and education from 1928 to 1955 built the foundation for the current divisions. The impact of the Ottoman and British occupation on citizens is particularized thorough the experiences of Elias Tuma, who lived under British and Israeli government systems. Today's educational system in Israel reinforces religious and sectarian conflict among its citizens. Educational and religious structural suggestions are provided for readers to consider. The implications of this work for future research are provided.     

Issues and Paradoxes in the Development of Iranian National Cinema: An Overview

Contemporary Iranian cinema has enjoyed wide success on the international scene—winning awards at film festivals, receiving praise by critics, and being screened in many countries around the world. But this success has another side to it: at home in Iran, the movie theater attendance is in decline and a range of players, including individuals, policymakers and government entities continue to meddle in shaping its future. Throughout the twentieth century and during the two decades of post-revolutionary successes abroad, Iranian cinema developed its own unique style and aesthetic. A cinema which was sometimes nurtured and financially encouraged by the government, yet at other times censored or banned by it. This paper provides a brief survey of the history of Iranian cinema since the 1900s in order to reveal the paradoxical issues both propelling and bedeviling its development and the role of principal actors involved in fashioning an Iranian national cinema.