'Imperial Life in the Emerald City'

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'Imperial Life in the Emerald City'

Jan 2009

Speakers: Rajiv Chandrasekaran, Shoma Chaudhury

Rajiv Chadrasekar reads from his book Imperial Life in the Emerald City (2006), which chronicles the American occupation of the Green Zone in Bagdhad. His short reading touches on the contrast between the comfortable life inside the American bases and the chaotic nature of the 'post-apocolyptic landscape' surrounding the base, and the lives of the local population.

Chadrasekar also talks to Shoma Chaudhury about his experience of being a journalist in Iraq. He contrasts the optimism of the first year of the war and occupation with the way opinion started to turn as the public, and even the military, became disillusioned with the lack of change, and the continued resistance, in Iraq.

Finally, Chandrasekar answers questions from the floor, discussing the likely future of American foreign policy, the financial implications of the war, the likely interconnecting fates of the Sunnis, the Shias, and the Kurds, and how journalists' perceptions of the war changed through the early years of the occupation.

This video was kindly provided by The DSC Jaipur Literature Festival