Martin Kramer is the founding president of Shalem College in Jerusalem, where he also chairs the department of Middle Eastern and Islamic studies. He is the author of several books, including Ivory Towers on Sand: The Failure of Middle East Studies in America, and The War on Error: Israel, Islam, and the Middle East, which has just been released by Transaction Publishers.

Kramer is not only a distinguished scholar of the Middle East who writes with an eye to the past as well as the present (and future), but also a gifted prose stylist. Indeed, he’s one of my favorite writers. Whenever he publishes an article or essay—even a blog post!—I rush to read it, for the information, worldview, wit, intelligence, and sheer pleasure of Kramer’s prose. I’m lucky to call him a friend, and recently had the opportunity to speak with him about his new book, the Middle East, Israel, and America, the Ari Shavit affair and other matters.