Kanan Makiya is an Iraqi-American academic. He is the Sylvia K. Hassenfeld Professor of Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies at Brandeis University. Although he was born in Baghdad, he left Iraq to study architecture at M.I.T., later joining Makiya Associates to design and build projects in the Middle East. For other uses, including people named Islam, see Islam (disambiguation). ... A map showing countries commonly considered to be part of the Middle East The Middle East is a region comprising the lands around the southern and eastern parts of the Mediterranean Sea, a territory that extends from the eastern Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf. ... Brandeis University is a private university in Waltham, Massachusetts, United States. ... Location of Baghdad within Iraq Baghdad (Arabic: ‎ translit: , Kurdish: Bexda, from Persian Baagh-daad or Bag-Da-Du meaning “Garden of God” [1]) is the capital of Iraq and of Baghdad Governorate. ... The Parthenon on top of the Acropolis, Athens, Greece Architecture (from Latin, architectura and ultimately from Greek, αρχιτεκτων, a master builder, from αρχι- chief, leader and τεκτων, builder, carpenter) is the art and science of designing buildings and structures. ... MIT redirects here. ...

Books

In 1981, he left the practice of architecture to write, using the pseudonym Samir al-Khalil to avoid endangering his family. In Republic of Fear (1989), which became a best-seller after Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait, he argues that Iraq had become a full-fledged totalitarian state, worse than despotic states such as Jordan or Saudi Arabia. His next book, The Monument (1991), is an essay on the aesthetics of power and kitsch. 1981 (MCMLXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti, (Arabic: ), (born April 28, 1937 ), was the President of Iraq from 1979 until the United States-led invasion of Iraq reached Baghdad on April 9, 2003. ... Combatants UN Coalition Republic of Iraq Commanders Norman Schwarzkopf, Sir Patrick Hine, Michel Roquejeoffre Saddam Hussein, Ali Hassan al-Majid, Hussein Kamel Strength 660,000 545,000 Casualties 345 dead, 1,000 wounded 25,000 - 100,000 dead, 100,000 - 300,000 wounded The 1991 Gulf War (also called the... The concept of Totalitarianism is a typology or ideal-type used by some political scientists to encapsulate the characteristics of a number of twentieth century regimes that mobilized entire populations in support of the state or an ideology. ... The Monument to the Great Fire of London, more commonly known as the Monument, is located in the City of London, near to the northern end of London Bridge close to where the Great Fire of London (1666) started. ... Example of kitsch Kitsch is a German term roughly meaning knock off that has been used to categorize art that is considered an inferior copy of an existing style. ...

Cruelty and Silence: War, Tyranny, Uprising and the Arab World (1993) was published under Makiya's own name. It was awarded The Lionel Gelber Prize for the best book on international relations published in English in 1993.

In 2001 Makiya published The Rock: A Seventh Century Tale of Jerusalem, a work of historical fiction that tells the story of Muslim-Jewish relations in the formative first century of Islam, culminating in the building of the Dome of the Rock. 2001: A Space Odyssey. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with The Dung Gate. ...

Films

Makiya has collaborated on multiple films for television, the most recent of which exposed for the first time the 1988 campaign of mass murder in northern Iraq known as the Anfal. The film was shown in the U.S. under the title 'Saddam's Killing Fields', and received the Edward R. Murrow Award For Best Television Documentary On Foreign Affairs in 1992. This article or section should be merged with Al-Anfal Campaign The Anfal Campaign, which takes its name from surat Al-Anfal in the Quran, was used as a code name by the former Iraqi Baathist regime for a genocidal campaign against the Kurdish community of southern Kurdistan. ... 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday. ...

Iraq Memory Foundation

Makiya also founded the Iraqi Memory Foundation,[1]. Makiya worked closely with Ayad Rahim in the early development of the foundation. Ayad Rahim is an Iraqi-American journalist. ...

Political Activism

In October 1992, he acted as the convenor of the Human Rights Committee of the Iraqi National Congress, a transitional parliament based in northern Iraq. Makiya also writes an occasional column and has been published in The Independent and The New York Times among other places. The Iraqi National Congress (INC) is an umbrella Iraqi opposition group led by Ahmed Chalabi. ...

Criticism of Makiya

The late Edward Said, a professor of English at Columbia University and supporter of Palestinian rights, was a vocal critic of Makiya. Said contended that Makiya was a Trotskyite in the late 1960s and early '70s and later profited by designing and constructing buildings for Saddam Hussein. Said also claims that Makiya mistranslates Arab intellectuals so he can condemn them for not speaking out against the crimes of Arab rulers. Edward Said Edward Wadie Said (November 1, 1935 – September 25, 2003; Arabic: ) was a well-known Palestinian American literary theorist, critic, and outspoken pro-Palestinian activist. ... Columbia University is a private university whose main campus lies in the Morningside Heights neighborhood of the Borough of Manhattan in New York City. ... Trotskyism is the theory of Marxism as advocated by Leon Trotsky. ...

External links

• Iraqi Memory Foundation

• Links to Makiya's columns

• Interview with Democratiya

• AIPAC and the Iraqi opposition, Haaretz, 7 April 2003. Nathan Guttman. Reports on the adddress and visit of the IGC to AIPAC headquarters. Present: Chalabi, Makiya.

• Interview with Edward Said

• Edward Said v. Kanan Makiya by Martin Kramer