Eric Davis is professor of political science and former director of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Rutgers University. His books include Challenging Colonialism: Bank Misr and Egyptian Industrialization, 1920–1941 (1983), Statecraft in the Middle East: Oil, Historical Memory, and Popular Culture (1991), and Memories of State: Politics, History, and Collective Identity in Modern Iraq (2005).
July 2005, Volume 16, Issue 3
If Iraq is to become the free and self-governing country that an overwhelming majority of its citizens want it to be, a "useable past" made accessible by historical memory will be vital.
