As part of the Arab Gateway, Brian Whitaker presents a collection of Internet resources that profile Iraq. Maps of the country and links to information about travel, the media, politics, the economy, human rights, and more in Iraq are available.

The fall of Saddam Hussein's brutal regime brought the first glimpse of freedom for Iraq and unleashed elation, resentment, and chaos. On the one hand, there is hope: the Iraqi people have their first chance at independence. On the other hand, there is despair: the country is exploding with violent sectarian and political power struggles. Through it all, Iraq has remained an enigma to much of the world. What is it about this country that makes for such a seemingly intractable situation? How did Iraq's particular history lead to its present circumstances? And what can we fear or hope for in the coming years? Fouad Ajami, one of the world's foremost authorities on Middle Eastern politics, offers a brilliant, illuminating, and lyrical portrait of the ongoing struggle for Iraq and of the American encounter with that volatile Arab land. Ajami situates the current unrest within the context of Iraq's recent history of dictatorship and its rich, diverse cultural heritage. He applies his incisive political commentary, his broad and deep historical view, his mastery of the Arabic language and Arabic sources, and his lustrous prose to every aspect of his subject, wresting a coherent, fascinating, and textured picture from the media storm of fragmented information. In the few years after the Iraq war began, Ajami made many trips to that country and met Iraqis of all ethnicities, religions, politics, and regions. Looking beneath the familiar media images of Iraq and the war, Ajami visits with individuals representing the breadth of Iraq's populace, from Sunni leaders and Shia clerics to Kurdish politicians and poets, Iraqi policemen, and ordinary people voting for the first time in their lives. He also hears from American soldiers on the ground, and the result of all his encounters is an astonishing portrayal of a land that has emerged as a crucial battleground between American power and the wider forces of Arab religious and political extremism. With his unrivaled access -- he has been granted an audience with the great, reclusive Shia cleric Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani and been admitted into the sacred shrine of Imam Ali in Najaf for a discussion with its religious scholars -- Ajami provides an intimate portrait that draws on both his learning and his lifelong interest in the traditions and the history of Iraq. With his commentator's eye, his scholarly depth of understanding, his poetic ear, and his abiding love for the Middle East, Fouad Ajami is an essential voice for our times. The Foreigner's Gift is the book we all need to read in order to understand what is happening in Iraq today and what the future might hold for all of us.

Regardless of its outcome, the Iraq War has had a transformative effect on the Middle East. To equip U.S. policymakers to better manage the war's long-term consequences, the authors analyzed its effects on the regional balance of power, local perceptions of U.S. credibility, the domestic stability of neighboring states, and trends in terrorism after conducting extensive interviews in the region and drawing from an array of local media sources.

Prologue: the assassins' gate -- An unfinished war -- Fevered minds -- Exiles -- Special plans -- Psychological demolition -- The palace -- The captain -- Occupied Iraqis -- Insurgencies -- Civil war? -- Memorial day -- The birth of politics -- Epilogue.

As a result of the failure of the Bush administration to meet its own goals in Iraq, a debate is finally possible in the United States not only about the rights and wrongs of the Iraq War, but also on what the US role in the world should be, and how long the new American hegemony in the world can be reconciled with respect for international law and democracy and civil liberties in the United States. This debate will take place among US citizens, as it should, but it is a debate from which Arab-Americans are largely absent. To understand the limits of the political influence of Arab-Americans it is essential to understand how poorly assimilated into American society many are. Many of them still do not speak English well; indeed some do not speak any English at all. Many are not citizens, are not registered to vote and have never contributed money to political campaigns. This is understandable, since many of them, especially those who are older, did not grow up in the United States, were not educated in American schools, and do not understand how the American political or legal systems work. They come from authoritarian systems, where the state is regarded with suspicion and fear, and where politics is often dangerous. Many inhabit predominantly Arab communities isolated from the larger society around them. It is impossible to predict how soon there may be an increase in the minimal political influence of Arab-Americans at the national level in the United States, but it will happen sooner or later. When it does happen it will change the way that US domestic politics relates to foreign policy issues. This process will be hampered, however, as long as those Arab countries with great wealth continue to do little to ameliorate the situation of misunderstanding and ignorance of the realities of the Arab world in the West. This ignorance can only be changed by profound self-driven progressive changes in governance in the Arab countries; and by serious efforts to foster education about the Arab world in the United States. Any increase in the influence of Arab-Americans in US society and politics will be retarded as long as the Arab world is blighted by widespread state repression and an absence of democracy.