Increasingly it is becoming clear that international communication is impossible without basic cultural knowledge. US officials admit as much when they say they failed in Afghanistan and Iraq by introducing too many programs that conflicted with local values. Dr. Andrea Rugh argues in her new book In Search of Worldviews: What Anthropology Can Tell Us About the Middle East that anthropological studies are the best data-driven way to gather accurate information on cultural views in the Middle East. What is the proper way to conduct personal relations? Why is it so difficult to establish democracy? How do their negotiating patterns differ? While other religions are declining, why is Islam expanding? How do communal societies in the Middle East work?
About the Author
Andrea B. Rugh is an anthropologist who lived and worked for 25 years in Lebanon, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Yemen, and the United Arab Emirates. She conducted research and development projects for organizations including USAID, UNICEF, and Harvard University, and is the author of fourteen books on the Middle East. She now lives in Hingham and Cape Cod, Massachusetts.