By FP Staff
From novels set in Italy, India, and New York to deep dives into African gun-runners and an exploration of the world’s most hated apostle, Foreign Policy staff read books this year that made us laugh, cry, and rethink how we see and understand art, conflict, religion, and humanity. Below, select FP writers, editors, and events staff share some of the best books they read this year — and why they think you should pick up copies of them too (even if they weren’t necessarily published in 2015).
Ty McCormick, Africa Editor.
The Real Politics of the Horn of Africa: Money, War and the Business, by Alex de Waal.
Essential reading for those who wish to understand why insurgencies seem to drag on interminably in much of Africa. There is no honor in the “political marketplace” de Waal describes, only gunslinging “entrepreneurs” whose allegiance is ever shifting to the highest bidder. Not surprisingly, the former Darfur peace negotiator is at his best when he describes the infuriating wars in Sudan and South Sudan, where perverse incentive structures have encouraged ever-smaller groups of rebel-bandits to take up arms with the aim of securing a cash payout. It’s a sobering read, but the most convincing framework I’ve seen for understanding regional dynamics.
Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian, Assistant Editor, Tea Leaf Nation.
The Study Quran, multiple editors.
Shelves at any local Christian bookstore are stacked with Bibles containing commentary, textual analysis, and historical explanations to aid those hoping to understand the sacred Christian text. But a similarly annotated Quran, the holy book of Islam, has been unavailable for English-speaking Muslims — until now. Published in November, The Study Quran is more than 1,900 pages of text, commentary, exegetical essays, and maps. But it’s a testament to the times that such a dense scholarly undertaking could become so controversial – the work has inspired breathless articles like “Could this Quran curb extremism?” as well as hateful skepticism online. The decade-long project is itself ecumenical – it’s drawn from both Sunni and Shia sources – and it represents a vision of a global and inclusive Islam; the editor-in-chief is an Iranian-born intellectual, it’s funded in part by King Abdullah II of Jordan, and one of the contributing editors is a woman. (It’s even available for download on iTunes.) “The best way to counter extremism in modern Islam,” said the editor-in-chief, Seyyed Hossein Nasr, “is a revival of classical Islam.”
Preeti Aroon, Copy Chief.
13 Men, by Sonia Faleiro.
Two social justice causes compete with one another in this work of narrative nonfiction about rape in India: women’s rights and tribal rights. The pseudonymous “Baby” falls in love with a man who’s not of her tribe; she is punished for her forbidden love, she says, by being gang-raped by 13 men. But her indigenous tribe has long been severely marginalized, and the tribe’s chief claims “someone powerful convinced her to lie” as a way to further marginalize the tribe. After you finish reading this 71-page e-book (perfect for passing time while on a plane or in an airport), you’ll be pondering what to think when separate social justice causes seem to be at odds. (Note: I wrote a review of this e-book in March for the Aerogram.)
Read more: What Foreign Policy Staff Read in 2015
Source: FP
