The fourth edition of this dynamic and popular text provides a comprehensive introduction to contemporary politics in the Middle East. Fully revised and updated throughout, it features a new chapter on the Arab Spring and its aftermath, plus a wide range of vibrant case studies, data, questions for class discussion and suggestions for further reading.
Purposefully employing a clear thematic structure, the book begins by introducing key concepts and contentious debates before outlining the impact of colonialism, and the rise and relevance of Arab nationalism in the region. Major political issues affecting the Middle East are then explored in full. These include political economy, conflict, political Islam, gender, the regional democracy deficit, and ethnicity and minorities. The book also examines the role of key foreign actors, such as the USA, Russia and the EU, and concludes with an in-depth analysis of the Arab uprisings and their impact in an era of uncertainty.
Purposefully employing a clear thematic structure, the book begins by introducing key concepts and contentious debates before outlining the impact of colonialism, and the rise and relevance of Arab nationalism in the region. Major political issues affecting the Middle East are then explored in full. These include political economy, conflict, political Islam, gender, the regional democracy deficit, and ethnicity and minorities. The book also examines the role of key foreign actors, such as the USA, Russia and the EU, and concludes with an in-depth analysis of the Arab uprisings and their impact in an era of uncertainty.
Table of Contents
Preface to the Fourth EditionINTRODUCTION
The Muddle East?
Who invented the Middle East?
Orientalism - the enduring debate
State-types: making sense of multiplicity
Recommended Reading
Questions for Discussion
1. COLONIAL RULE: SHAPING THE DESTINY OF A REGION
Introduction
Merchants and Missionaries
World War 1 and the death of the Ottoman Empire
1918 and after: mandates, protectorates and colonial power
Inter-war European decline
Sunset Empire
Case Study: Egypt - Gateway to riches
Case Study: The Palestine Debacle
Case Study: Algeria - a colony or province outré mer?
Recommended Reading
Questions for Discussion
2. NATIONALISM: THE QUEST FOR IDENTITY AND POWER
Introduction
Nationalism as theory turned into practice
The birth pangs of Arab nationalism
New Identities and hopes
The first Arab revolt: the Arab princes at the helm of British imperial ambition
Taking state power
Unification nationalism: the United Arab Republic and beyond
Case Study: Nationalism defined by a man: Nasserism
Case Study: BaÂthism - the Arab Socialist future unveiled
Case Study: Stateless nation: The Kurds
Recommended Reading
Questions for Discussion
3. A VERY POLITICAL ECONOMY
Introduction
Regional wealth and extremes of inequality
Evolution of oil-based economies
Sheikhdoms and petro-power
Rentier futures, profit in decline?
Labour mobility and employment
Case Study: Saudi Arabia: Visio 2030 or bust
Case Study: Egypt: Too big to fail or succeed
Case Study: Collapsing globalization and its regional consequences
Recommended Reading
Questions for Discussion
4. CONFLICT AND LACK OF PEACE
Introduction
The bigger battle: Arab-Israeli hostility
Killing dreams: the Israeli-Palestinian dimension
East against West in the Suez crisis
Arab versus Arab
The Lion and the Peacock: Arab-Iranian relations
Sectarian Politics
Case Study: Egypt and Israel: This is what peace looks like
Case Study: Iraq: Enduring Conflict
Case Study: Al Qaeda the recurrent threat
Recommended Reading
Questions for Discussion
5. PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE POLITICS: ISLAM
Introduction
Islam and Politics
Thoroughly modern Muslims
Muslim Brotherhood
Fervour
Arab Spring and Islamist Autumn
Case Study: The Islamic Republic of Iran
Case Study: ISIS - the case of the Âso-called Islamic stateÂ
Case Study: Palestinian Islamists - Hamas
Recommended Reading
Questions for Discussion
6. THE EPHEMERALS OF DEMOCRACY IN THE MIDDLE EAST
Introduction
Clash of civilizations
Democracy or liberalization?
Socio-economic indicators
Democracy and civil society
Islamism and democracy - an oxymoron?
The Arab Spring and democracy
Case Study: Jordan - a façade democracy
Case Study: Moroccan parse
Case Study: All Hopes in Tunisia
Recommended Reading
Questions for Discussion
7. Women: The invisible population
Introduction
The role of women in nationalist movements
Identity and Independence
Women and Islam
Subjugation
Feminism and gender discourses
Case Study: Palestinian women in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip
Case Study: From beyond the veil - Iran since the revolution
Case Study: Turkey, the state of women
Recommended Reading
Questions for Discussion
8. ENDANGERED SPECIES: ETHNICITY AND MINORITIES
Introduction
Defining ethnicity
Minority status
The state and ethnicity
Modernity in the post-modern age
Ethno-national and religious battles
Conflict management and regulation
Case Study: Lost within the Jewish state: IsraelÂs Arabs.
Case Study: ÂAll the PresidentÂs Men The Alawites of Syria
Case Study: Fear on a Mountain: Yazidis
Recommended Reading
Questions for Discussion
9. THEM AND US: THE UNITED STATES, EU AND RUSSIA IN THE MIDDLE EAST
Introduction
National Interest
Relations and rivalries
Europe, the EU and the Middle East
The Bear awakens Russia and the Middle East
Case Study: America and Israel: the really special relationship
Case Study: America and Saudi Arabia: oil on troubled waters
Case Study: Russia and Syria: the embrace
Recommended Reading
Questions for Discussion
10. THE ARAB SPRING AND THE NEW ERA OF UNCERTAINTY
Introduction
Underlying factors
Winds of Change
Teenage Kicks: Youth and the Arab Spring
Unfolding spectacle of political change
Authoritarian resilience
Uncertain Future
Case Study: Libya fracturing
Case Study: EgyptÂs children of the revolution
Case Study: Yemen from Hope to War
Recommended Reading
Questions for Discussion
References
Index
