Five Best Books of 2025
Every year I like to reflect on what I’ve read and what books that I most enjoyed. This year my reading selections focused on two primary topics: Israel/Palestine (in preparation for teaching a course on the topic) and on Modern Morocco (in preparation for my semester leave this past Fall). Of the 27 books I read in 2025, these are the best in no particular order:
The Damascus Events, by Eugene Rogan
The political and social upheavals of the 19th century Ottoman Empire produced uncharacteristic outbursts of sectarian violence in Ottoman Syria. In The Damascus Events, Oxford professor Eugene Rogan examines the1860 massacre of Syrian Christians at the hands of Muslims mobs, its causes, and impact on the future of the Middle East. Rogan argues that the Damascus events and other bouts of sectarian violence erupted due to a combination of factors including the European imperialism, Ottoman reform, and social breakdown of relations between landed elites and average Syrians. Rogan grounds his arguments in primary sources relying heavily on the letters and notes of Damascene Christian and American Vice-Consul Mikhail Mishaqa.
Memories of Absence by Aomar Boum
Morocco was home to an estimated 250,000-300,000 Jews in the mid-20th century and today the population, while the largest in the Arab World, has dwindled to approximately 3,000. In Memories of Absence: How Muslims remember Jews in Morocco, Moroccan anthropologist Aomar Boum interrogates this simple question revealing the complex emotions many Moroccans have for a Jewish population that has all but disappeared. Jewish merchants often served a key economic role linking Morocco’s isolated rural interior with the coast and its imperial centers. For many Moroccan Muslims, the emigration of Jews coincided with deteriorating rural economies and higher rates of urbanization. Boum’s work provides a glimpse into many of the older generation who long for the past.
Two Arabs, A Berber, and A Jew by Lawrence Rosen
Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia all experienced varying degrees of French occupation in the 20th century and its influence has had a lasting impact in all three countries. In Two Arabs, A Berber, and A Jew, Lawrence Rosen explores Morocco’s modern history from French colonialism to the 1970s through the lens of four ordinary Moroccans from the market town of Sefrou. Each individuals provides insight into the complexity and diversity of the Moroccan experience.
The Modern Middle East: A History by James L. Gelvin
There are multitudes of survey texts telling the story of the Modern Middle East, but Gelvin's history stands apart. Rather than provide a chronological retelling of history as can be found in Cleveland's or Goldshcmidt and Davidson's books, Gelvin provides a thematic approach to understanding the region. Gelvin's approach provides clearer explanations to the conflicts and trends in the region while also giving digestible insights into the scholarly debates that swirl around the academic study of the region. Plenty of primary sources as well. Excellent introductory text on the Middle East.
The Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy by John J. Mearsheimer and Stephen F. Walt
Mearshiemer and Walt’s argument is simple: 1) states' have distinct interests, 2) US foreign policy should be based on its distinct interests 3) catering too much to Israel’s interests (which the US has) will undermine US interests. The authors argue that pro-Zionist individuals and groups (CUFI, AIPAC, etc.) carry a tremendous amount of weight in US foreign policy circles and that policy makers have often sold out its own interests for the purpose of protecting or supporting Israel. The Israel Lobby is meticulously researched, well-written, and increasingly relevant in our current age.
The book could use an update given the last 18 years of history (especially in relation to the Arab Spring and recent developments in Syria, Lebanon, and Iran), but Measheimer and Walt lay out a convincing case for why US support for Israel should not be unconditional and how unbending support for Israel has undermined US interests in the Middle East and likely undermined Israel's as well.
