International affairs

Mubarak Awad grew up in the Occupied Territories; he later became a U.S. citizen, but returned to Palestine to advocate for civil disobedience as the best way to resist Israeli rule and discrimination. He joins Fresh Air to give his perspective on the intifada and Palestinian organizations like PLO, whose violent actions Awat sees as acts of resistance, not terrorism.

Veteran journalist Dusko Doder. Doder and co-author Louise Branson have just written a comprehensive biography of Mikhail Gorbachev, titled, "Gorbachev: Heretic In the Kremlin." It's published by Viking. Dusko Doder is the former Moscow Bureau chief for the Washington Post. Branson covered the Soviet Union for the Sunday Times of London.

South African journalist Allister Sparks. He's been a correspondent for The Economist, the Washington Post, and The Observer. Sparks' new book, "The Mind of South Africa," is a historical study of that country, and an analysis of the roots of apartheid.

Historian Jonathan D. Spence. His new book is "The Search for Modern China" (published by W.W. Norton & Company). Spence is a professor of History at Yale University.

Reporter Lawrence Weschler. Weschler is a staff writer for the "New Yorker," where he writes on human rights, political, and cultural issues. Weschler's new book, "A Miracle, A Universe: Settling Accounts with Torturers," (published by Pantheon) looks at how victims of torture in Brazil and Uruguay worked to bring their captors activities to light (portions of the book ran as a five-part series in the New Yorker). Weschler's earlier books include "The Passion of Poland," and "Shapinsky's Karma."

Journalist Robert Cullen. He's a former Moscow correspondent for Newsweek, and he writes regularly on Eastern Europe for The Atlantic and the New Yorker. An eyewitness to the fall of the Ceaucescu regime in Romania, Cullen discusses with Terry the difficulties that country faces in setting up a democracy after so many years under a dictatorship.

Journalist and essayist Francine Du Plessix Gray. In her latest book, "Soviet Women: Walking the Tightrope," Gray documents the lives and attitudes of contemporary Soviet women in the era of glasnost. They talk about everything from birth control to Stalin to the constant struggle to balance the demands of work and family in their lives. ("Soviet Women" is published by Doubleday.)

A double interview today....first, Terry talks by telephone with South African musician Abdullah Ibrahim. Long an exile in this country, we find out how Ibrahim thinks this weekend's release of Nelson Mandela will change the artistic climate in South Africa.

Soviet commentator Vladimir Pozner (poez-ner, not pahs-ner). Pozner is a fixture on American talk shows...an intelligent, affable, understandable interpreter of Soviet events and policies. Pozner was born in France, grew up in Brooklyn, and moved to the Soviet Union at age 19. In his new book, "Parting With Illusions," Pozner looks back on his life, talks about the Soviet Union under leaders from Stalin to Gorbechev, and discusses the recent "ending" of the cold war. (The book's published by the Atlantic Monthly Press).

Richard Barnet, co-founder of the Institute for Policy Studies. Barnet discusses the end of the Cold War and the implications for U.S. domestic and foreign policy. His new book is "The Rocket's Red Glare." (It's published by Simon and Schuster).