The Year of Dreaming Dangerously - Slavoj Zizek

Because the essays in this book are tied to a set of events (Arab Spring, Occupy) there is a bit more coherence and his points are more approachable.  Still, there is nothing like a consistent vision as to what might take the place of Capitalism.  He does make some good points though.  One point is impossibility of imagining what might come next, as it would be something completely new (or something old and even uglier...) and beyond what we currently have experience with.  He also makes clearer the link between capitalism and materialism - the great strength of capitalism is its productivity, its ability to produce material goods.  As long as our values are so tied to material goods, capitalism is here to stay.  His criticism of leftist ideas as simply prolonging the life of what is inherently an untenable economic structure is interesting... there is a point to be made here, but post-capitalism is hard to imagine and may not necessarily be any nicer.
The other point he makes is that revolution is probably impossible - the true endpoint of capitalism resides in the coming environmental cataclysm and ecological collapse.
I do enjoy his surprising take on current events, and his ability to make clear the underlying presumptions or false narratives in our media's discussion of these events.

Lost Enlightenment - Central Asia's Golden Age from the Arab Conquest to Tamerlane - S. Frederick Starr

A fascinating account of one of the great forgotten ages (and regions) of intellectual and artistic achievement.  A worthwhile read for a number of reasons:

- the sheer contrast of the historical region with its current state

- the tantalizing hints of what must have been there as an intellectual and artistic tradition before the arab invasion, which was really the arrival of the barbarians by then central asian standards

- the underlying theme of the importance of persian culture and cultures of the persian linguistic families in the flowering of this great age; underlines that this culture was a highly influential culture in the whole middle-eastern and central asian region

- the historical importance of this central asian intellectual tradition to the later flowering of european thought and development, both as a source of ideas and as a source of ancient texts 

- Starr's speculations on the reason for the decline of the region:  increasing focus on religious dogmatism in a conflict between the two versions of Islam leads to intolerance and a narrowing of the field of thought - something to consider in this age of dogmatisms, religious, cultural, social, political as so on...

- Starr's observation that, even excluding the possible highly advanced society preceding the arab invasion, this Central Asian Golden Age lasted longer than any other similar historical golden period in any other society world-wide

- great source for thinkers and poets to chase down

This book is a great reference to put any writers (Rumi, Khayam etc.) in their political and social context.

Not a fast read, as it is very detailed and explores central intellectual themes as well as social, political, and economic milieux. 

Samarcande - Amin Malouf

Curieux petit livre (en français) qui a l'air un peu vieux genre, à moins que ce ton ne vienne de la voix du narrateur, homme du 19e siècle.
L'histoire se divise en deux parties:  une biographie imaginaire d'Omar Khayyam (1048-1131), suivie par une histoire qui se déroule en Iran à l'époque de la révolution constitutionnelle (1906).  Cette deuxième histoire est basée de près sur les vrais événements et personnages de la révolution iranienne - William Shuster et Howard Baskerville par exemple.
Malouf semble explorer la culture politique et les structures de pouvoir au Moyen Orient, et comment ils n'ont guère changé depuis le temps d'Omar Khayyam:  hiérarchiques, corrompus, contrôlés par les intérêts d'une élite politique et par l'établissement religieux.  Les rapports de soutien entre ces élites et la religion officielle ou organisée y sont évidents.
Comme il fait souvent Malouf miroite l'Occident du point de vue du Proche Orient.  Cette réflexion n'est pas très positive - exploitateurs prêts à sacrifier la liberté et la vie des peuples pour notre avantage économique.  Nous adorons déferler sur le monde le drapeau des droits et de la liberté jusqu'au moment où nos intérêts économiques entrent en jeu...  Il y a des parallèles modernes dans l'Iran de nos jours (théocratie et Gardes Révolutionnaires); en Israel (droits et liberté des Palestiniens et le rôle de E.U.); en Syrie (la lutte actuelle entre les élites Alawite et le reste du pays); Egypte (élites vs. le peuple; rôle douteux des E.U.)
Dans ces livre Malouf utilise le passé pour illuminer la vérité du présent au Proche Orient.

En vue de cette longue histoire de culture politique inchangée, on peut se demander comment les choses vont jamais changer....  Ce n'est pas seulement question de politique mais aussi de changement de culture, de rapports personnels, de société en général.