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| Author: | Sasha Polakow-Suransky, Associate Editor |
|---|
May 1, 2009
Sasha Polakow-Suransky writes on the atmosphere in South Africa on the eve of Jacob Zuma's inauguration as president.
Excerpt: Rumour had it that he might be coming to campus, but from the looks of the usually bustling main square there was no indication of it. August 11, 1990, was a quiet winter day in Durban and the university grounds were empty but for a few students milling about. My father led me across the square to a large lecture hall, where a small group of young men wearing bright yellow T-shirts hurried about, unloading boxes of posters from minivans.
After the requisite name-dropping, we were escorted up the stairs by a group of armed guards, perplexed by the presence of a middle-aged white man and his 11-year-old son amid a sea of black and brown faces. The auditorium was brimming with excitement as students unfurled banners and more and more yellow-clad activists streamed into the auditorium, were patted down by machine-gun-toting security officials, and took their seats. The students - Zulu and Indian - chanted liberation songs, sang the ANC's once-banned national anthem, Nkosi Sikeleli, and bellowed "Amandla... Ngawethu" (Power... to the People) in the call and response tradition of the anti-apartheid struggle.
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Start-Up Nation addresses the trillion-dollar question: How is it that Israel—a country of 7.1 million, only sixty years old, surrounded by enemies— produces more start-up companies than large, peaceful, and stable nations like Japan, China, India, Korea, Canada, and the UK? With the insights of geopolitical experts and investors, the authors examine this nation’s adversity-driven culture to answer this question and offer prescriptions for a global economy on the rebound.
In Forces of Fortune, Vali Nasr presents a paradigm-changing revelation that will transform the understanding of the Muslim world at large. He reveals that there is a vital but unseen rising force in the Islamic world—a new business-minded middle class—that is building a vibrant new Muslim world economy and that holds the key to winning the cold war against Iran and extremists.
In Cuba: What Everyone Needs to Know, Julia E. Sweig presents a remarkably accessible portrait of Cuba's unique place on the world stage over the past fifty years, including its internal politics, its often fraught relationship with the United States, and its shifting relationship with the global community.
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