today we are very fortunate to have our colleague and a friend, professor joseph sassoon, discussing release of his new book. there are few occasions in academic life that are more worthy of celebration than the publication of a book, and certainly none more so than the publication of a major book, and that's what this is likely to be. professor sassoon is an adjunct professor at georgetown university, he is also a senior associate member at st. anthony's college in oxford. during the 2010-2011 academic year, he was a public policy scholar at the woodrow wilson center for international scholars here in washington d.c. during the spring term, he is a visiting fellow at all souls college in oxford. professor sassoon was born in baghdad and completed his ph.d. at st. anthony's college, oxford. he has published extensively on iraq and its economy and on the middle east including two previous books, "economic policy in iraq: 1932-1950," published in 1987, and "the iraqi refugees: the new crisis in the middle east," published in 2009 in addition to numerous book chapters and other publicat