Scholars across cultures are asking whether the Islamic tradition of jihad provides a doctrine of just warfare, writes Evan R. Goldstein.
A Palestinian member of the Islamic Jihad movement raises the Koran (above) in the West Bank village of Qabatyeh last month. (Photograph from AP Images)

• Western intellectuals debate even whether the issue is a productive or prudent one for public discussion, Goldstein writes.

At 95, the literary giant M.H. Abrams offers a close reading of his career, writes Jeffrey J. Williams.

Health-finance analysts weigh government-run programs against an open market. But why not have both? asks Phillip Longman.

First Thoughts

Not all commentators like Stuff White People Like, a blog so successful that it's becoming a book.

Thirty-five years after Erica Jong's Fear of Flying took off, the feminist classic continues its turbulent journey, writes Elaine Showalter.

Books & Arts

The digital age is disorienting and overwhelming for traditional film-studies scholars, writes Thomas Doherty.

In his latest work, the playwright Itamar Moses engagingly explores personal and aesthetic trickery, writes Julia M. Klein.

Nota Bene

Hitching's Hitches and Niches: Books on white weddings, Commie-fighting housewives of the 1950s, and tough career and family choices facing women today.

NEW SCHOLARLY BOOKS

Observer

It's hard to explain the continent's current troubles without shortchanging either historical complexities or modern culpabilities, writes Moses Ochonu.