Children of Jihad: A Young American's Travels Among the Youth of the Middle East

Great writing, fascinating adventure, brilliant young man. Should be required reading for many in our government and I'm glad he's part of it.

As an American Jew, Cohen does something that very few Americans would do. He goes to the Middle East on a visa after multiple failed attempts at being granted one. He faces his fears head-on, to learn about the people and culture behind the Jihad for himself. In the process, he learns to break-down his preconceived notions and stereotypes that the American media often feeds us, banking on the fact that the vast majority of Americans will never go to Iran themselves to prove it wrong. People r generally much more motivated by fear than by the potential of gain. Every experienced salesperson knows this with the "fear, uncertainty, doubt" sales pitch designed to make us "Act know!", "Limited time offer!". By facing a very common fear of Islamic militant countries and its people, Cohen is able to discover that you can't judge individuals by the action of a few. At one point he is speaking with a very animated female Iranian college student, who has an insatiable interest & curiosity in Americans and what what it's like over here? The student mimics the sentiment of many of her peers when explaining the anti-American slogans come from the older established generation of power-hungry leaders, as opposed to the youth of their country. She describes how saddened she & her peers were when they learned of 9/11 and watched the twin towers fall on television. Cohen sheepishly admits to his readers that he could not return the sentiment that many Americans ever "cried" or felt the same way about the Iranians being killed in the current war. This is a new & refreshing perspective that causes one to question any leader of a country to rally its people's support for a cause by spreading media-indoctrinated fear and stereotypes. It's an easy read of first-hand accounts. I had chosen it for our book club this month and upon buying the last copy at Border's discovered both book stores in town are sold out of it!

Jared Cohen's new travel memoir deserves our immediate attention, no small feat considering bookshelves are already crowded with the polemics of policy-wonks and talking heads - especially those that deal with the Middle East. Cohen's book is different because although he has a meaningful and important thesis to communicate - the incredible potential of the youth of the Middle East as a possible target for diplomatic engagement - he presents his argument through a fluid and engaging narrative. Cohen's tales are full of energy and tension and his prose benefits greatly from entertaining descriptions of characters and locales from all over the Middle East. The final reason this book succeeds is because of Cohen himself. In contrast to the chorus of opinions coming from K Street, Cohen has the curiosity and courage (recklessness in some cases) to go and see for himself. Cohen's youthful naiveté turns out to be a great asset, leading him to look where no one has yet looked - in McDonald's, in nightclubs -in order to locate a hopeful vision of the future.

As a cynic by nature and a person who knew embarrassingly little about the Middle East to begin with, I am grateful to Jared Cohen. Children of Jihad is an excellent balance between an account of Cohen's personal adventures, sometimes thrilling and sometimes terrifying, and factual information about the historical and current conflicts between overlapping cultures, religions and countries. His narrative is not agonizingly esoteric as are many other papers and books on the same subject. This is to his credit, because in this way he will be able to reach people like me - young people - which is crucial to his chief argument: That hope for the resolution of longstanding clashes rests with the young populations of these countries. Cohen's achievements are based on a rare combination of open-mindedness and moxie which clearly guided him in his travels and in writing this thoughtful book. The hopefulness which underlies his story despite the various obstacles he faced is inspiring. Children of Jihad is equally exhilarating and edifying.

It is exhilarating to experience off limit places through the eyes of a contemporary. Mr Cohen dares to travel to places off limits to most Americans; and then risks even more by writing about his experiences in an open even loving way. This is a book that anyone interested in travel, or mid east history or exciting story telling will enjoy. But it is also a book that we as Americans, with our government pursuing a reckless uneducated policy, should read.