If you've always wanted to get your head around the confusion and conflict that is the Middle East, this is one of the best I've read so far.For those who follow Iraq from afar, the daily stories of sectarian slaughter are perplexing. Why are the Shi'ites and Sunnis fighting? Why now?
- Bobby Ghosh, Why They Hate Each Other
Time Magazine's Baghdad correspondent Bobby Ghosh paints some broad brushstrokes that takes readers through the history of the struggle within Islam.
It's simple to read, intuitive and easy to understand and it will give you some perspective on the escalating sectarian violence dominating the Middle East we read or hear about in the news daily.
As Ghosh so eloquently puts it, "It is the product of centuries of social, political and economic inequality, imposed by repression and prejudice and frequently reinforced by bloodshed. The hatred is not principally about religion."
But I shan't steal his thunder. Click through here.
(I've provided the link for the online version, although Time's March 5, 2007 edition - a 9-page hardcopy spread complete with break-out boxes, maps and haunting photography is definitely worth getting your hands on if you get a chance.)
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