Rating: 
Summary: Witty and informative book on post-Hussein Iraq
Review: Joseph Braude is a young American who seems, in his 28 years, to have made friends with about 1,000 people in the Arab world. His book on rebuilding Iraq is filled with interviews, stories, jokes, anecdotes; the stuff of lives in the Middle East. Since Iraqis under Saddam risked torture if they spoke against their regime, Braude garners much from Iraqi dissidents and refugees. They help Braude reach perspectives on statebuilding which are witty, (mostly) pragmatic and appeal to common sense. Sure, a small part of these involve the role of international business (and it's fair to say that they play a role in the future of an economically viable Iraq, much as some neo-Marxist voices strive to deny it). And there is even economic opportunity for Americans in the post-Saddam Iraq. But most of the book focuses on our understanding and engaging with the Iraqis culturally. A new kinship of liberated Iraqis and Americans could indeed transform the Middle East and the world. Think: the role of Islam in politics, the War on Terror, the creation of a peaceful Israel/Palestine, and an enhanced understanding of Arabs in the West and vice versa. Please, it's not all about Western capitalists profiting. Not even by a long-shot. Braude is clear on this, but it appears that his critics in the media are almost monomaniacal in their fixation on anything involving money! Joseph Braude gave a terrific interview on NPR last week, which was the first time I'd heard of him. I saw him again on Jim Cramer's show on CNBC. He was thoughtful, insightful. I suspect we'll be hearing more from him, which I'd consider a good thing.
Rating:
Summary: Braude Offers Optimism and Purpose
Review: Joseph Braude tries - in fewer than 200 pages - to offer a compelling, absorbing, and optimistic vision of Iraq's future. I think he does quite brilliantly. Please understand that these questions of rebuilding Iraq are far deeper and ultimately of greater consequence than your position on this war. In the end, it means little to Iraqis whether you love or hate Bush or Blair. And thankfully Mr. Braude is wise enough to realize that his personal views on the conflict, now that the war is a reality, are not of surpassing importance. What will indeed matter greatly to the destiny of Iraq, its talented, beleaguered people, and the entire Middle East is whether American society and the world mobilize and commit themselves to compassionately rebuilding a thriving New Iraq. And Braude gracefully describes what that New Iraq must look like. It must do justice to the startlingly unique culture of that great land. And it must unleash the marvelous collective talent of Iraqis - a freedom-starved, proud people who have waited - truly voiceless! - for economic and political justice to reach their shattered homeland. The New Iraq offers a vision for success in all areas of the rebuilding - from the reconstituted Iraqi military to the cinema - without losing sight of Iraq's unique cultural, religious, and economic institutions that have (miraculously) survived the Ba'ath nightmare. Saddam Hussein offered the people of Iraq a brutal police state, a fascist ideology, innovations in fear and torture. He almost succeeded in grinding the Arab world's most multiethnic society into dust. But Saddam Hussein is the past. In the near future, many societies from across the globe will be uniting with Iraqis in an historic state building effort of almost unprecedented scope and importance. Joseph Braude's book, in my opinion, is a terrific starting point for their humane and historic discussions. Finally, some optimism and a sense of mission! A vital counterweight to the cynicism and fatalism in the air today. I heartily endorse it.
Rating: 
Summary: Looter's memoir
Review: There are reports that Mr. Braude pleaded guilty to looting the Iraqi artifacts. Amazon.com would better investigate this and stop distributing his volume.
timesdaily.com, 08/03/04: An expert on Iraq's postwar reconstruction has pleaded guilty to smuggling 4,000-year-old artifacts looted from the country's national museum after the U.S. invasion.
Joseph Braude, 29, pleaded guilty Tuesday, two days into his trial on charges of smuggling and making false statements to customs agents. He could be sentenced to up to 16 months in prison.
Braude studied Near Eastern languages at Yale University and Arabic and Islamic history at Princeton University before publishing "The New Iraq: Rebuilding the Country for Its People, the Middle East and the World" last year.
Rating:
Summary: An Excellent, Informative Read - A Breath of Fresh Air
Review: This book is an excellent read with many valuable points about the potential for a free, prosperous Iraq. It's a real breath of fresh air to read a positive, forward-looking book about Iraq's future, instead of all those books that dwell on weapons of mass destruction and Saddam's brutality. This one's dedicated to the Iraqi people and all those who want to live in a better world. In chapters about Iraqi politics, business, economy, culture, cinema, the media, and the legal system, Braude's optimism and imagination (with plenty of reality-checks throughout the book) allow us to envision a New Iraq that would make the Iraqi people, the Middle East, and the world proud. One of the major arguments of the book is that whatever the exact final form of the Iraqi government of the future, it must ensure a redistribution of wealth and power among the country's three regions and ethnic groups. For over thirty years, the Baathis and their clique have hoarded wealth and power, to the detriment of the rest of the people. Redistribution is the key to calming civil strife and laying the groundwork for true democracy, explains Braude. As policymakers and officials debate the temporary government to be installed in Baghdad post-war, the overarching question of what are the principles to which the New Iraqi government adheres needs to be explored. The New Iraq, through nuanced argument and cultural portrayal, welcomes the reader into a discussion of the values and ideas that ought to guide the rebuilding process. Read The New Iraq to learn much, much more.
Rating:
Summary: A (...)
Review: want should really read this book. In the most unsuspecting chapters I found the most revealing information. The previous British attempts at "regime change" or reformation and how MUSIC played a crucial role, the true breadth and depth of fear and deceipt among the Iraqi people. The background of Ba'ath, Shi'i, Islamic, and other influences. This information in this book really raises questions regarding the method of the US's current efforts of rebuilding a well-structured Iraqi government.
The impact of the book may have been even more profound had there been an additional perspective presented by a co-author.
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