Nearly a century of tragedy and instability seen in the Middle East could have been avoided or at least mitigated if the promises made to the leaders of the Arab Revolt during World War I had been honoured instead of dividing the region into "artificial nations", said a biographer of Lawrence of Arabia....
China's Dowager Empress Cixi has been long reviled as a despotic ruler who rose to power by harem intrigue, but it was she who transformed a medieval country into a modern nation, gave rights to citizens especially women and opened and facilitated China's engagement with the world for its own benefit, says a Chinese author....
