Book Review: The Age of Aryamehr: Late Pahlavi Iran and Its Global Entanglements

 The Shah of Iran regime is generally evaluated and judged through overcritical lenses. The most frequent - and in most of the cases justified - references are to the deep corruption of his regime, the abuses against human rights and religious freedom and the lack of democracy. However, the job of an academic researcher is to outline the mentality patterns and directions which, when using the right neutral theoretical matrix, may reveal new and interesting aspects.

The Age of Aryamehr. Late Pahlavi Iran and Its Global Entanglements edited by Roham Alvandi is an outstanding collection of essays covering a big variety of topics related to the late years of the Pahlavi regime. Some of them are relatively well known, such as the Shiraz Festival of Arts or the 1971 Persepolis Celebrations, but what in my opinion stands up is the divergence of all the studies towards identifying global trends and the move towards a different political and geopolitical identity for Iran.

What for my own interests was equally relevant were the articles and points dedicated to intellectual history, specifically of the European left and it´s misreading of the Islamic revolution (the article by Claudia Castiglioni). The intellectual West was unable ´to fully capture the meaning and the possible implications of the Iranian revolution´. ´Universal in scope, but with a strong national connotation, anti-communist, despite the global emphasis placed on social justice, fought under the banner of religion despite the professed secularism of many among its protagonists, the Iranian revolution presented a conundrum for intellectuals, especially those of leftist orientation´. 

The ways in which the political representatives of the late Shah tried to use culture as an efficient tool of soft power was more than an abusive way of self-embelishment of the Shah - which at a certain extent it was - but a powerful statement trying to reposition Iran on the global trends, particularly during the complexities of the Cold War. From the mid-1960s, the Shah tried to create his own pattern of political alliances, playing the global card with the big players of the bi-polar blocks. He tried to integrate the cultural assumptions of a Great Civilisation - tammadon-e bozorg - into a larger geopolitical narrative. 

However, no matter what, he lost all his local cards and he was not the only one who was taken away by the debacle. 

This book is an example of quality intellectual discourse on topics that in most cases ignite ´for´ and ´against´ mindset. It shows how much the academic research and advancement of thoughts may win when the research is driven exclusively by intellectual curiosity and desire to find the truth.

Rating: 4 stars

´Cold War Spy Stories from Eastern Europe´

I don´t remember when I´ve read the last time about spy stories in Eastern Europe. It used to be a topic I dealt with as a historian, especially when reconstructing intellectual profiles and histories from this part of the world. Personally, I´ve considered it a real hole of rats that disgusted me deeply. Once you start searching through the files carefully set up by the so-called ´intelligence´ services of the time, there is no end of human ignominy. It helps when you try to avoid to have role-models but still, why they should be so low and accept to betray their neighbours, friends, relatives in exchange for money or priviledges that will never amount to the harm they did. I remember I met once a woman who once was recruited when she was in school, a teenager. She accepted. When the public discussion about collaboration and relationship with communist secret police was hot, that woman met me for a coffee and confessed that once she said candidly ´yes´. I tried to be polite with her, finish my coffee and avoid her for the rest of my stay. Simply, don´t want to have anything to do with such people and it is my personal choice for reasons of mental hygiene.

Cold War Spy Stories from Eastern Europe, edited by Valentina Glajan, Alison Lewis and Corina L. Petrescu. is a volume of stories collected from the Stasi archives, Romania´s Securitate and the Ukrainian KGB, among others. In addition, there are also chapter on the representation of the Cold War in movies on both sides of the Iron Curtain. 

If you are not familiar with the Cold War context and its intricacies do not expect to understand it by reading this book - that I had in audiobook format - but otherwise the stories outlined are really interesting for the specific topics addressed. For instance the story of a Romanian Jew that worked as a secret police officer before being dismissed after ten years of activity on an anti-Semitic ground - which happened very often at the time. Another chapter deals with the many faces of the GDR spymaster Markus Wolf. Literature and the production of books in general were a very important matter of interest for the secret services at the time. They use writers as informers and censors in a clear effort of divide the intellectuals and keep them under the state control. The story of the Romanian-born Hungarian Jew Ana Novac - her real name was Zimra Harsanyi - , a Shoah survivor, a plawriter and memorialist that died in Paris, is an example in this respect. People that were in contact with her were writing surveillance notes with a strong personal note of disdain for her burgeois habits and her sexual activities. Another topic that I´ve found personally very interesting regards the Turkish men working as seasonal labour force in the West that were recruited by the East during their trips to the communist part of Berlin looking for fun and sexual adventures. The story of the Orthodox priest who denounced his collaboration with the West that a couple of years after the end of the Soviet Union was among the ultranationalist Russian-speaking publication Zavtra is no surprise. 

Personally, I was interested in reading more stories from the secret files but that was maybe rather an intellectual voyeurism. I was entering the mood of terrible stories and was ready to remember that this is how the human nature works, regardless the intellectual preoccupations and the particular education. The final part of the book deals with the movies representations of the Cold War, through the analysis of a couple of the productions. The relevance of the topic of surveillance, in a post-Cold War context remains, but as in many respects regarding the multi-polar world, there is a lot of political ambiguity and circumstantial meaning. 

Cold War Spy Stories from Eastern Europe were not intended to be more than fragments of a complex mosaique that still has its own secrets. It has a critical box of tools as well as conceptual delimitations and definitions which are very helpful for the reader that have not experienced directly the political pressures of the time. Personally, I would be curious about the feedback about such stories from someone who never faced the restriction of democratic freedoms. 

Maybe it is about time to delve back into some Cold War stories or write more myself. One day...

Rating: 4 stars

Academic Book Review: Working in a Multicultural World

The world of today is so different of the world only a couple of years back. Especially if you are living in Europe, in any big city you might notice the linguistic, cultural and ethnic diversity, which a direct influence on the working habits and culture in general. You just need to go to your Asian supermarket or wait for your pizza or shaorma at the fast food next door. In order to be able to be part of this new diverse world, declarations of supporting 'multi-kulti' are not enough. 

The first stage of the interaction has to do with the way in which the narrative is being written. How we react and what we understand out the contact with 'the other'? Are we ready to go beyond the declarative level and the basic stereotypes inherently associated to various ethnic groups?

Working in a Multicultural World by Luciara Nardon is a real 'guide to developing intercultural competence', meaning it offers a step-by-step learning process to anyone keen to manage efficiently the multicultural interactions at work and abroad. In the author's words, it helps 'to develop constructive ways of thinking about intercultural interactions and acquire the skills needed to deal with the complex multi-cultural reality of today's workplace'. 

Offering more examples and practical insights and less theoretical background, the book helps to improve the level of inter-cultural communication in various work situations. Communication is the main dimension around which the entire process is built and developed, either it is about developing empathy or revisiting the main story of the intercultural and multicultural interaction. Very useful are especially the short exercises at the end of each section, allowing an evaluation as well as the revision of the main habits and practices. 

A book recommended especially to those dealing with multicultural diversity at the workplace on a daily basis, as well as to anyone preparing for a career in the field of cultural studies, with a practical interest in creating trainings and workshops for international companies and teams.

Rating: 4 stars

Disclaimer: Book offered by the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Academic book review: Paying for college. Athletic Scholarship Info

This book laguished unopened on my Kindle for a long time because I was almost sure that the information deals exclusively with management of college payment and other financial information that does not interest me too much. After all, I am living in Germany where the high education is free and I do not have too many plans to going back to university either, at least not in the next 6 months. 

I was wrong though. It has very good tips about how to organise your entry to college, step-by-step, taking care of the smallest details such as time management, establishing special learning routines, organizing the extra-curricular activities. Written in an accessible language, it offers directions for going straight on the path to making good academic choices, setting up motivational tools and writing good application letters. 

The information is at the level of 2012 and unfortunally it does not have relevant links or extra materials for the reader, but regardless of your academic level, geographical location or the year when you start reading it, there is relevant information available. My favourite ones are: how to identify and fight procrastination and the advice to be in touch with a tutor or teacher seeking for academic guidance. 

A four-star kind of book, strongly recommended and easy to read - less than one hour if you are a speedy reader as me. 

Academic book review: The lost world of Rhodes, by Nathan Shachar

There is a special fascination of the South-Eastern European areas, often praised as paradises and melting pots of multicultural worlds and at the first layer view the things are always so: where else can you find such a wide diversity of cultures, languages and histories, all brought together in the same pot? On the other hand, the multiculturalism is rather the consequence of various policies and historical occurrences, political abuses and accidents of all sorts.

The lost worlds of Rhodes is from this point of view an interesting read. Constructed with the acribic fervour of the historian and with the final touch of the curious journalist, it succeed to bring back to life an unknown world of ethnic identities and diversities, mostly centered around the fate - tragic, as always - of the Jewish communities. 

Literary fantasies and raw realities

The book reviews mostly the last two centuries, but with a long view on the variety of historical traces left by different empires and reigns. The fascination with the Mediterranean spaces is long and will hardly cease to exist, but through the literature, mostly travel books, it created a certain parallel world, not necessarily fit to the immediate reality: 'their penchant for regarding the most quotidian phenomena as echoes and reflections of eternal Attic, Etruscan and Minoic harmonies, bred a seductive illusion of a Mediterranean firmly moulded to its glorious past; of a world when the gestures, habits and arts of present-day farmers, water carriers and politicians were taken straight from a schoolboy lexicon of mythical, architectural and poetic references. Such a mindset may become quite a drag of understanding, once you start to wonder about how these societies now spread out over the classical map really function'. (pp.6-7) 

The big sin of many literary descriptions is the avoidance of everything that must trouble the beautiful aesthetic balance - 'there are times when the studied avoidance of brute realities becomes bad taste' (p.7). One example given by the author is Durrell who avoided to mention anything about the Jewish heritage because, he assumes 'it would have ruined the setting for his light hearted aquarello musings' (p. 8)

Under the cultures

France has written a long 'love story' with the minorities from the South-Eastern part of Europe, especially with the Jewish communities. Through Alliance Israelite Universelle, the young Jews were learned not only a language, but also a mental system that intermediate the transfer of modern ideas about citizenship and secularism. Many Jews will be tempted and will either abandon their cultures, mostly moulded after the Sephardi society patterns, or Rhodes altogether, looking for a wider horizon outside. The Zionist ideas did not enter this world before WWI, except Bulgarian and Salonika. However, it seems that the French influences were rather superficial when it was about real support for the French policies and this is mostly available when we think about the failed colonial policies in North of Africa where Paris left almost intact educational systems and the hope of the French citizenship, but without a real 'patriotic' attachment to the political France. 

Regardless of the historical circumstances, the Sephardi world of Rhodes, created following the expulsion from Spain in 1492, indicated serious convulsions and predicted geopolitical resettlements. 

And then, there were the Italians and the Germans coming up, that put an end to the diversity through cultural assimilation and racial policies. 

Although a Holocaust memorial of the old Juderia (the Jewish quarter) was inaugurated in the summer of 2002, the full history of the Jewish community in Rhodes is still to be written. The coming of nearly 10,000 Germans brought the murder of 1,769 Jews. Some of them already left, for Latin America, USA, Africa - in Congo, for instance, they contributed to the consolidation of the state - or Israel. Only 160 survived and most of them left the country shortly after. At a certain point, I was expecting more about the fate of Sephardi Jews in Rhodes, maybe a dedicated full chapter.

Layers of memory

What is interesting from the point of view of the methodology is the mix between journalistic tools and investigations and numerous personal observations following visits on place, and the historical references. It seems to be the best recommendation for reading correctly the different memory layers of the coexistence: 'Each location had its very own background noise of recent and distant memories, suspicions and passions, its own parochial blend of prejudice and tolerance, reason and unreason'. (p. 184)

The travel memoir and historical scholarly observations alternate, but not always the dosage is the right one which might make the reader confused between subjective assumptions and doct references. But this confusion can be the result of the profile of the place as such: 'Inter-ethnic routines in multifaceted cultural settings are always less clear-cut than the categories of social history will reveal'. (p. 185)

The methodological choice is interesting and looks as the only available option, but can be dangerous for the exquisiteness of the historical discourse. Valuable is the repertoire of personal interviews made with former inhabitants of the Juderia, nowadays spread from all over the world. 

Despite some ups and downs, the books is an interesting read for the Jewish historian and the historian interested in the modern history of South-Eastern Europe, as well as in minority issues. 

For me, it created an interest for further investigations of the topic and the book has a long list of bibliographical recommendations that will help me further.