Prizewinning journalist Robert Fisk offers a brilliant account of the tragedy of war as seen in the conflict in Lebanon. "Eminently readable . . . a chronicle of a continuing war without heroes".--The New York Times.
Water In The Middle East
Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, the strategic culture of resistance has dominated Iran's strategic objective and foreign policy preference formation. Iran is a revisionist state that lacks overwhelming military and economic dominance in its near abroad, as such two pillars have emerged to support and export their strategic culture of resistance. These are Adaptive Resistance (pragmatism) and Designed Redundancy (deniability and insulation). These two themes of resistance provide content and s...
Iran's Revolutionary Guards are one of the most important forces in the Middle East today. As the appointed defender of Iran's revolution, the Guards have evolved into a pillar of the Islamic Republic and the spearhead of its influence. Their sway has spread across the Middle East, where the Guards have overseen loyalist support to Bashar al-Assad in Syria and been a staunch backer in Iraq's war against ISIS. In spite of their prominence, the Guards remain poorly understood to outside observers....
This is a detailed account of Arafat's struggle for survival and justice for his people. It is written in co-operation with Arafat himself and other top PLO leaders. The highlight of the book is a lengthy account, mainly in Arafat's own words, of the inside story of the events which led up to the historic handshake, of the historic moment itself, and of the aftermath. The author's relationship with Arafat goes back to 1979 when he was trusted to be the link-man in a secret and exploratory dialog...
In this book the author seeks to understand the political causes and psychological effects of the conflicts in the Middle East. He sketches the prelude to the troubles, and places the events of 1979 to 1988 in their historical context while examining the course and meaning of the Lebanese civil wars, the Syrian self-mutilation at Hama, the refugee-camp massacres at Sabra and Shatila, and all the other terrible episodes in this apparently endless war. Thomas Friedman won two Pulitzer Prizes for h...
Fragmented Borders, Interdependence and External Relations (Palgrave Studies in International Relations )
The Syrian Crisis (WHAT EVERYONE NEEDS TO KNOW)
by Research Fellow Charles Lister
Turkey's July 15th Coup
On July 15, 2016, a faction of the Turkish military attempted to overthrow the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The Turkish government blamed the unsuccessful coup attempt on Gulenists, adherents of an Islamist movement led by Fethullah Gulen. They had helped elect Erdogan and his AK Party, with the goal of bringing an ostensibly "soft" version of Islam into the secular Turkish government. In alliance with the AK Party, Gulenists steadfastly increased their representation in various...
This book states that one calamitous result of the invasion and occupation of Iraq (2003) was the dismantling of the state and the destruction of all the structures and processes of government. The invading powers, the USA and UK, were obsessed with the removal of the regime of Saddam Hussein, which they regarded a clear danger and a serious threat to their strategies designs and in the region. To justify their atrocity, they trumped up a number of falsehoods and charges, such as the issue of WM...
Fethullah Gulen is a moderate Turkish Muslim scholar who is known mostly for his education and dialogue activities. The Hizmet Movement, inspired by Gulen, has established hundreds of education and dialogue institutions throughout the world. Several books and hundreds of articles and news reports have been written about Gulen himself and the movement. In recent years, a defamation campaign has been launched against Gulen and the Hizmet Movement. Although these defamation articles may seem random...
A high-level insider's history of the efforts to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, from 2000 Camp David Talks to the present, that explains why successive attempts have all failed. The clash between Israel and Palestine has been one of the most emotionally engaging causes of modern times. Prophets without Honor tells the story of the grueling attempts to solve the conflict and examines the reasons for its resilience. Shlomo Ben-Ami, who participated at a high level in the July 2000 Camp...
Russia in the Middle East and North Africa (Europa Regional Perspectives)
After decades of intense interest and rivalry with the USA, the end of the Cold War and the dismantling of the USSR officially marked a period of significant retreat of Russia from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). However, with Russia’s economic recovery and the entrenchment of President Vladimir Putin, Russia’s interest in the region has risen anew. Once again seen as a battleground to contest US hegemony, Russia has expanded its political, military and (to a lesser extent) economic rel...
This book explains why the Iraq War took place, and the war's impacts on Iraq, the United States, the Middle East, and other nations around the world. It explores conflict's potential consequences for future rationales for war, foreign policy, the United Nations, and international law and justice.
Kurdish Identity, Islamism, and Ottomanism (Kurdish Societies, Politics, and International Relations)
by Deniz Ekici
A major common misconception in scholarship on Kurdish journalistic discourses is that Kurdish intellectuals of the late Ottoman period cannot be portrayed as Kurdish nationalists. This theory prevails because of the belief that they not only endorsed and promoted Pan-Islamism and Ottoman nationalism instead of Kurdish ethnic nationalism, but also because they allegedly eschewed political demands and instead concerned themselves with ethno-cultural issues to articulate forms of "Kurdism" rather...
Building Bridges
In April 1997, Egyptian President Mubarak and U.S. Vice President Gore agreed to explore the possibility of creating a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Egypt and the United States. The very idea of such an agreement has been met by controversy and skepticism from critics in both countries. The authors of this book, however, believe that the case for considering an FTA between the U.S. and Egypt rests on solid economic and political grounds. An agreement could help promote Egyptian economic ref...
Culture and Conflict in Palestine/Israel (Ethnic and Racial Studies)
While the scholarly study of culture as a politically contested sphere in Palestine/Israel has become an established field over the past two decades, this volume highlights some particular understudied aspects of it: the relations between Arab identity, Mizrahi identity, and Israeli nationalism; the nightclub scene as a field of encounter, appropriation, and exclusion; an analysis of the institutional and political conditions of Palestinian cinema; the implications of the intersectional relation...
Middle East Politics and International Relations
by Shahram Akbarzadeh and Kylie Baxter
The contemporary Middle East has been defined by political crises and conflict. The interplay of internal and external factors have set the region on a path of turmoil and crisis with devastating outcomes for its people. The absence of political accountability and representation, and policies pursued by the United States to keep US-friendly regimes in power have been two key factors that have contributed to the seemingly insoluble Middle East politics. This book provides a detailed exploration...
In 1976, Nahlah Ayed's family gave up their comfortable life in Winnipeg for the squalor of a Palestinian refugee camp in Amman, Jordan. The transition was jarring, but it was from this uncomfortable situation that Ayed first observed the people whose heritage she shared. The family returned to Canada when she was thirteen, and Ayed ignored the Middle East for many years. But the First Gulf War and the events of 9/11 reignited her interest. Soon she was reporting from the region full-time, tryin...