Ezgi Başaran, coordinator of the Programme on Contemporary Turkey at Oxford University’s St Anthony’s College, on “Frontline Turkey: The Conflict at the Heart of the Middle East.” The book is a breezy 200-page summary of the country’s current impasse, addressing how the long-running conflict with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the rise and fall … Continue reading
Category Archives: Current Affairs
Signature Strikes: A Necessary Evil?
In warzones, ordinary commercially-available drones are used for extraordinary reconnaissance and information gathering. They can also be used for bombings a drone carrying an explosive charge is potentially a powerful weapon. At the same time asymmetric warfare has become the norm with large states increasingly fighting marginal terrorist groups in the Middle East and elsewhere. … Continue reading
The I.B.Tauris 2017 Review
As 2017 draws to a close, the I.B.Tauris staff have again taken the chance to reflect on their favourite books, from our own (strong) stable – and from further afield. As usual, there’s a wonderfully eclectic range, so dive in! Madeleine Hamey-Thomas; Visual Culture Editor I.B.Tauris Book of the Year: China’s Forgotten People: Xinjiang, … Continue reading
NEW: Exclusive extract from ‘Nationalism and Yugoslavia’ by Pieter Troch
Created by the Treaty of Versailles in 1919, ‘Yugoslavia’ was a combination of ethnically and linguistically diverse peoples – Slovenes, Croats and Serbs but also Bosnians, Kosovans, Macedonians, Muslims and Montenegrins. The Great Powers believed that a coherent identity could be formed in which all the differing people of the state could identify with a … Continue reading
NEW: Exclusive extract from ‘Westminster Diary Volume 2: Farewell to Office’ by Bernard Donoughue
As New Labour’s first period of government picks up steam, we find Bernard Donoughue working as a minister at the Ministry of Agriculture, Fishing and Food. In this, the second volume of Donoughue’s House of Lords diaries, he chronicles his experiences – often frustrating, often hilarious – serving in the early years of Blair’s government, … Continue reading
The I.B.Tauris Summer Reading List 2017
With summer reaching its traditional drizzly climax, I’m sure your thoughts are turning to the most important issue of the season: which books to take on holiday? Here at IBT we’ve come up with a few suggestions, both from our own stables and from further afield. We hope you enjoy our picks! ~ Tom Stottor … Continue reading
See how our live Twitter Q&A with Soner Cagaptay, author of ‘The New Sultan’, unfolded here
This week, we were delighted to welcome Soner Cagaptay, author of The New Sultan for a live Q&A session on Twitter. Read the full transcript below; thanks to everyone who took part! //storify.com/ibtauris/soner-cagaptay-live-twitter-q-a/embed?border=false The New Sultan: Erdogan and the Crisis of Modern Turkey is available now and can be ordered here. …and see more of our books on Turkey, … Continue reading
Saudi Arabia and the Trump Administration: a marriage of mutual needs
by Neil Partrick The Saudis have sent mixed messages in response to nascent Trumpian Middle Eastern policy. Domestic Saudi media likes the tough words toward Iran, whereas externally-based Saudi media has been more sceptical, in effect asking ‘where’s the beef?’ Saudi doublethink has long been a characteristic of the Kingdom’s foreign policy. Vague US talk … Continue reading
‘Make yourself disagreeable’ – Rafael Torrubia on Black Power in the past, present and future
As an uncertain and turbulent political era begins in the United States, the need for assertive and potent resistance has never been stronger. Rafael Torrubia’s new work Black Power and the American People provides both a comprehensive history of the movement – and a powerful call to arms for today’s activists. Just a scant few days ago, the White House’s … Continue reading
‘… You tourists are like the stars in the night sky…’
In the wake of Burma’s historic elections last week, Rory MacLean, author of Under the Dragon reflects on his first visit to Burma, where he met opposition leader and Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi… Continue reading
Barbarity and Civilization: Parallels between the Fight Against ISIS and the Spanish Civil War
As ISIS and their followers dominate the headlines, author Michele Haapamäki takes a look at those fighting against the Islamic State, and draws parallels with the militia who took up arms against General Franco… Continue reading
Jemimah Steinfeld in Conversation with Xiaolu Guo at Asia House
Following Monday’s launch, debut author Jemimah Steinfield returned to Asia House to join Xiaolu Guo in conversation about love, sex and youth in modern China. Continue reading
The Guardian reviews Frontline Ukraine
On Thursday 19 February, Richard Sakwa’s Frontline Ukraine was reviewed by Jonathan Steele for the Guardian, and hailed as ‘the best analysis yet in book form of events on the ground in eastern Ukraine as well as in Kiev, Washington, Brussels and Moscow.’ Continue reading