The Wikipedia Story

 

Pavel Richter, the first CEO of Wikimedia Germany, systematically explans how Wikipedia works and what are its aims. It is a whole episode of human knowledge that was written with the creation of this online collaborative project. As in the case of other Encyclopedic endeavours, Wikipedia aims to offer a big slice of sharing knowledge to a larger amount of people. This happened before since the 18th century, but right now, it took over control of the information and Internet allowed it happened. 

In the old times, those who were written the various articles were well known and their credentials were well known among the elites sharing knowledge, Nowadays, the writers are mostly anonymous, they may have or may have not an academic degree and some of their private experience and opinions can be easily shared. There are students, and even authors, using Wikipedia sources as academic references but I know at least one teacher from a prestigious American university that abhorrs such a practice.

The knowledge disorder created by Wikipedia - useful still unreliable, extended knowledge as the result of global collaboration yet contested sources and information - is characteristic for the times we are living. Using Wikipedia as a source of information can be detrimental to knowledge, but learning how to use critically the sources shared online is part of the healthy use of the Internet in general. 

The Wikipedia story as shared by Richter is relatively general when it has to do with the story of the project in general - this is what Wikipedia is all about, anyway - but by far the most important part has to do with the particularities of the project in different languages - German, Chinese etc. It show how local legal and knowledge practices are reflected into the specific approach on certain topics - such as privacy issues etc. Wikipedia may feature the world global cultural knowledge, and it does, but in a way that brings in various differences and limitations.

Although I was maybe expected the book to be more informative, particularly in respect to various operational aspects of Wikipedia and its general structure, but nevertheless it has some relevant insights that are interesting to anyone looking to understand the current history of knowledge. 

´Le Naufrage des Civilisations´

 

Amin Maalouf is one of the most known - in translation - critical and lucid intellectuals from the Middle East. His lucidity, I think, is the result of his direct knowledge of historical facts of the contemporary Middle East. He was there, he saw it, he took part to the events. He is not observing from outside, watching the news from his couch. He is first there, living and breathing, and only after that he is sharing his views.

Le Naufrage des Civilisations is a collection of different essays about different historical life encounters, rooted in the Middle East. The events - the Six-Day War in 1967, the Iranian Revolution, the Cold War in South East Asia, the social and political changes underwent by Egypt, the war(s) in Lebanon - are placed into a larger historical and intellectual frame that may paint in the end a more disappointing and depressing landscape. The Middle East is suffering of a loser syndrome, at least some parts of it, particularly Lebanon. Maybe Iraq too. But there are part of it which are not included in the account and which are actually changing and do contradict the pessimistic narrative. There is modernity, at least in some part of it, and there are successful stories - partially, Jordan is an example as well. 

Although not a communist by principle, his perspectivea and information on the situation of the Communist movements in the Middle East during the Cold War are very useful for understanding at least part of this generational failure. The raise of the Talibans in Afghanistan and the hunting of Indonesian communists in the 1960s, a country with the thirds largest Communist Party in the world after the Soviet Union and China offers an extension of the outcome well outside the Middle Eastern realm. Thinking in terms of ´what if´ is a toxic intellectual habit, but nevertheless, without the turmoils created by the decades-long confronation between US and USSR, life would have been a better place. Maalouf does not dedicate at least the same amount of space to analyse the equally toxic influence of the Soviet Union in the Middle East and there is much more left to be said about the shortcomings of the local leadership, independently of the ´colonizer´ framework. However, it recognizes that both communism and anti-communist were equally a ´calamity´.

As I´ve read the book in the original French language, I can only add to the positive features of the book the beauty of the written words while maintaining the brevity and informative character. 

Le Naufrage des Civilisations is an important book for anyone looking for intellectual sources and resources about the Middle East. Although much more resources are needed about this topic in order to offer to the non-Arabic speaking reader a very comprehensive mindset about the historical and cultural complexities, it does offer a good ground for further building the necessary knowledge.

Vanguards of the Imam: Religion, Politics and Iran´s Revolutionary Guards

 

There is an important element of novelty in the Vanguard of the Imam by Afshon Ostovar, mainly an English-speaking account of the powerful - both economically and politically - Iran´s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC). 

In the author´s words, IRGC is ´a multifaceted organisation with reach into many different areas. It is a security service, an intelligence organisation, a social and cultural force, and a complex industrial and economic conglomerate. It is foremost a military organization´. 

The main question the book wants to answer is: ´What is the IRGC and what makes it such a domineering force in Iran and such an influential player in the Middle East? ´ 

The author uses historical details and contemporary aspects, trying to build a relatively clear landscape where the IRGC operates both internally and externally, particularly its journey towards becoming the strongest political actor in Iran, with its own naval and air forces, among others. All wrapped into a very unique religious interpretation which makes it an interesting - for the political science scholar, but deadly poisonous for those actually depending on it - case study for the mixture between politics and strict religious perspective.

The religious activism extends beyond the country´s border, influencing and creating conflict all around the region, but particularly in relation with Israel. 

Although it goes deep into the ideological and religious roots of this unique organisation, it does not explores further the movement in itself. For instance, a question that at least for me remains unanswered is what is the sociological basis of IRGC, what are the biographies of the members of this hybrid elite? Another important element which is missing, in my opinion, is the evaluation of the extent of the economic outreach which eventually may be an element to keep in mind in the case of a regime change. As it happened in many former communist countries, the control of economic resources by the representatives of the regime continued for a very long time after the political end of the regimes, which created, as in the case of the former Soviet Union, the well known phenomenon of ´moguls´. 

Clearly, the access to the information regarding both the structure of the assets and of the elites is very limited, and those aspects can be further explored. Those shortcoming do not affect the novelty and the rich documentary material used in this book. New angles and approaches will definitely help further research and analysis on topics that are very important for the study of the region as well as of Iran in general.