Voices from America...

Trickily busy for the rest of the week, so I thought I might keep everyone entertained and informed by mentioning a few vivid and engaging articles that have caught my eye from the American press over the past week or so.

First up is Abbas Milani writing in The New Republic about Iranian theocracy and Shiism in an article entitled “The New Democrats”. While I’m not in a position to evaluate the veracity of Milani’s thesis, it’s a splendidly informative and interesting analysis which I felt I learned much from reading.

Secondly, and more light-heartedly, I give you Todd Purdum in Vanity Fair and his overview of the improbable case of failed Vice-Presidential Sarah Palin - darkly and suggestively entitled “It Came from Wassila”… Finally, and sticking with Vanity Fair, I found this article by Christopher Hitchens – atheistic, Washington-based brother of Peter – on Gordon Brown and the British Labour Party. Part of the interest of the piece is that it is written for a primarily American audience, but draws heavily on Hitchens’ own experiences and anterior political commitments in Britain. "To see oursels as ithers see us" and all that... Enjoy!