By Hanan Toukan
Published by Stanford University Press, Stanford, California, 2021
In the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, the United States responded not only with military aggression but also a campaign to win “hearts and minds.” Explicitly associated with the 2003 invasion of Iraq, this strategy built on the pivot since the 1990s in Western development and policy circles toward civil society and soft power, reasoning that efforts to distribute aid, erect infrastructure, and promote liberal values would yield a more cooperative populace and bolster the democratic transition. In this discursive and political landscape, cultural producers “came to be seen by international donors working in policy as crucial partners for bringing about desired change,” writes Hanan Toukan, a Bard College Berlin professor of Middle East studies, in The Politics of Art: Dissent and Cultural Diplomacy in Lebanon, Palestine, and Jordan.
Split into two parts, the book begins by rigorously contextualizing and analyzing the
