The Tyrant's Daughter

by Carleson, J. C.

  I love J. C. Carleson’s book, but it’s frightening—or maybe haunting is a better term. We see the world through the eyes of a young girl—bright, innocent, good-hearted, inquisitive, and sharply observant of the adults around her, as young people often are. Utter biographic circumstance has deposited her in a family that belongs to the Third World political elite, with all the luxurious benefits, deadly risks, and, perhaps worst of all, seductive temptations that implies. She loved her father, and maybe there was a part of him that deserved her love. After all, nothing is black-and-white. It’s not even gray. It’s a fractured, fragile kaleidoscope of colors ready to shift at the slightest nudge of the wheel. Good people can do bad things. Good people can do good things that turn out badly. Or they can do great things that shine like beacons for centuries to come. Bad people can do bad things that turn out well, or they can do terrible things that cause enormous misery. Or other people can do things intended to please the good or bad leader that he or she would not have endorsed. And whether you think that someone is a good or bad leader and that their actions were necessary or contemptible depends on who you are and whether or not your group benefited. And the judgment can change, sometimes from one day to the next, sometimes after a few centuries. Genghis Khan, for example, may be notorious for looting and killing, but today he is also credited with ushering in an era of unprecedented cultural exchange, peace, and prosperity.

  I wish I could end on a “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus” note. I wish I could point to some core of certainty, some infallible set of ethical guideposts, but really all we have is questions. What, for example, will become of our young narrator? Will she hold on to her sympathy for the underdog and her inclination to fairness? And will she be able to convert that into any sort of effective action? Or will she fall into a life of comfort and privilege, paid for with ever more unsavory compromises? Asma al-Assad, the wife of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, was once hailed by Vogue magazine as the “rose of Damascus” and praised for her work on behalf of women’s rights and education. A few short years later, she was internationally reviled for standing by a husband who was allowing his population to be slaughtered in the streets. Her emails were hacked, and she was labeled a Middle Eastern equivalent of the frivolous Marie Antoinette when it became known that while battles raged in her country’s cities, she was busy ordering shoes online.

  What path shall we recommend to our heroine? Should she join the resistance? They resort, too often, to terrorism, convinced that the end justifies the means. Should she become a reformer? They often end up as political prisoners, rotting in dank, dark cells, but yes, others endure and become Nelson Mandela. Should she try to stay on the margins, because politics is just too confusing? A young woman named Sonia tried that route. Sonia was born in a small Italian village and received a strict Catholic education. To support herself while attending school, she worked as a waitress, and one day in came a strikingly handsome young man. They fell in love and got married. The man happened to be a student from India. He also happened to be the son of Indira Gandhi. But that, they both thought, mattered little. The young man, Rajiv Gandhi, was studying to become a pilot. He hated politics. His brother, Sanjay, was the one destined to lead the dynasty. Indira liked her foreign daughter-in-law, who was low-key and undemanding and whose principal involvement in family affairs was when she helped select the sari her mother-in-law should wear from a plenitude of gorgeous fabrics. Those moments brought them close. Then Indira was assassinated. And then Sanjay died in a plane crash. That left Rajiv, who was pressed to accept his fate and fulfill his duty to family, nation, and political party. He submitted, and became prime minister. And then he was assassinated. That left Sonia, who was now prevailed upon to step into her husband’s shoes. Go to Wikipedia if you don’t believe me; that’s what happened. That’s the crazy, completely unforeseeable chain of events that took an Italian village girl and made her leader of the biggest political party of Asia’s largest democracy. Forbes has ranked her as the ninth most powerful person in the world.

  So our young protagonist may try to enter the fray, or she may try to stay on the margins, but politics is a wild animal, and also a roller coaster without seat belts or rails, so we’ll have to wait and see.

  Dr. Cheryl Benard is a researcher for the RAND Corporation and president of ARCH International, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the support of post-conflict cultural activism. Previously she was the research director of the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute of Human Rights, a European think tank, and prior to that she taught political science at the University of Vienna.

  RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FURTHER READING ON THE MIDDLE EAST AND THE ARAB SPRING

  FOR YOUNG READERS

  Children of War: Voices of Iraqi Refugees by Deborah Ellis

  Tasting the Sky: A Palestinian Childhood by Ibtisam Barakat

  Thura’s Diary: My Life in Wartime Iraq by Thura al-Windawi

  Sold by Patricia McCormick

  Shabanu: Daughter of the Wind by Suzanne Fisher Staples

  If You Could Be Mine by Sara Farizan

  The Things a Brother Knows by Dana Reinhardt

  Habibi by Naomi Shihab Nye

  The Space Between Our Footsteps: Poems and Paintings from the Middle East by Naomi Shihab Nye

  FOR ADULT READERS

  Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi

  Foreigner by Nahid Rachlin

  The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

  Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi

  Kabul Beauty School by Deborah Rodriguez with Kristin Ohlson

  Arab Spring Dreams edited by Sohrab Ahmari and Nasser Weddady

  The Arab Uprisings by James L. Gelvin

  Veiled Courage: Inside the Afghan Women’s Resistance by Dr. Cheryl Benard

  ONLINE RESOURCES

  While these books are all great resources, it’s important to note that international affairs are in a constant state of flux. Situations can shift and evolve dramatically from year to year or day to day. The best way to stay informed is by reading the news. Here are a few websites that not only report current events but also offer historical overviews to put the headlines in context.

  BBC News bbc.co.uk/news/world/middle_east

  The New York Times nytimes.com/pages/world/middleeast/index.html

  The Guardian guardian.co.uk/world/interactive/2011/mar/22/middle-east-protest-interactive-timeline

  The Economist economist.com/world/middle-east-africa

  CIA World Factbook cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook

  J. C. Carleson

  is a former undercover CIA officer who has navigated war zones, jumped out of airplanes, and worked on the front lines of international conflicts. Now a fulltime writer, she lives in Virginia with her husband and two young sons. Her previous books include the novel Cloaks and Veils and Work Like a Spy: Business Tips from a Former CIA Officer. Visit her on the Web at JCCarleson.com.