Children of Jihad A Young American's Travels Among the Youth of the Middle East

by Cohen, Jared

• ISBN13: 9781592403240
• ISBN10: 1592403247
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2007-10-25
• Publisher: Gotham

Summary

Defying foreign government orders and interviewing terrorists face to face, a young American tours hostile lands to learn about Middle Eastern youth—and uncovers a subculture that defies every stereotype. Classrooms were never sufficient for Jared Cohen; he wanted to learn about global affairs by witnessing them firsthand. During his undergraduate years Cohen travelled extensively to Africa—often to wartorn countries, putting himself at risk to see the world firsthand. While studying on a Rhodes Scholarship at Oxford, he took a crash course in Arabic, read voraciously on the history and culture of the Middle East, and in 2004 he embarked on the first of a series of incredible journeys to the Middle East. In an effort to try to understand the spread of radical Islamist violence, he focused his research on Muslim youth. The result is Children of Jihad, a portrait of paradox that probes much deeper than any journalist or pundit ever could. Written with candor and featuring dozens of eye-opening photographs, Cohen’s account begins in Lebanon, where he interviews Hezbollah members at, of all places, a McDonald’s. In Iran, he defies government threats and sneaks into underground parties, where bootleg liquor, Western music, and the Internet are all easy to access. His risky itinerary also takes him to a Palestinian refugee camp in southern Lebanon, borderlands in Syria, the insurgency hotbed of Mosul, and other frontline locales. At each turn, he observes a culture at an uncanny crossroads: Bedouin shepherds with satellite dishes to provide Western TV shows, young women wearing garish makeup despite religious mandates, teenagers sending secret text messages and arranging illicit trysts. Gripping and daring, Children of Jihadshows us the future through the eyes of those who are shaping it.

Author Biography

After completing this book, Jared Cohen joined the U.S. Department of State in September 2006 as a member of the Secretary of State-'s policy planning staff. A Stanford graduate (2004), Oxford graduate (2006), and Rhodes scholar, he has conducted extensive research in Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon. He has also traveled to Afghanistan, as well as twenty-one African countries. He has worked in the public and private sectors and has appeared in the media, including ABC Radio and the Discovery Channel.

Table of Contents

Prologue	p. 1
Destination Iran	p. 9
Removing the Shackles	p. 30
Democracy After Dark	p. 49
Nuclear Pride	p. 73
"Death to America"	p. 85
The Calm Before the Storm	p. 108
The All-Night "Party of God"	p. 137
Struggling for Dignity	p. 156
Babies in the Ba'ath Party	p. 177
The Road to Mesopotamia	p. 203
Iraqis Who Like Us	p. 224
Waking Up in the Insurgency	p. 252
Epilogue: The Youth Party	p. 266
Acknowledgments	p. 276
Table of Contents provided by Blackwell. All Rights Reserved.