The contemporary Middle East : a Westview reader

Description

Overview: The Contemporary Middle East provides an accessible introduction to the region’s most pressing concerns and enduring conflicts. It includes provocative contributions by an impressive array of leading scholars, journalists, and policy advisors. Contributors include notable academic authors Arthur Goldschmidt Jr., the late William L. Cleveland, Shibley Telhami, David W. Lesch, Bernard Reich, and Phebe Marr, complemented by selections from recent general-interest books by Marwan Bishara, Mark Perry, and Eugene Rogan, among others. With twelve new chapters, the third edition is a probing examination of the current affairs of the Middle East. Its multiple readings on strategic pairings of topics (Israel and the Palestinians, Iraq and Iran, Egypt and Syria) illuminate the region’s key issues from a variety of perspectives. Part- and chapter-opening summaries help establish background and context, and a new concluding chapter by Shibley Telhami, written specifically for this volume, candidly addresses fundamental questions about the United States and the Middle East today. Student resources include an annotated table of contents, a select bibliography, a glossary, brief biographies of notable persons, a chronology, and a summary of recent events, in addition to numerous maps. Content: I. History and perspectives. The peoples and cultures of the Middle East / Colbert C. Held and John Thomas Cummings The roots of Arab bitterness / Arthur Goldschmidt Jr. and Lawrence Davidson Islamist perceptions of US policy in the Middle East / Yvonne Yazbeck Haddad Global energy and the Middle East / Steve Yetiv New US policies for a new Middle East? / William B. Quandt Cairo speech / Barack Obama -- II. Israel and Palestinians. Israel and the Arabs, and beyond / Robert O. Freedman The United States and Israel / Bernard Reich and Shannon Powers The Palestinians / Glenn E. Robinson Sharon's fence /Idith Zertal and Akiva Eldar Whither the Palestinians? / Samih K. Farsoun and Naseer H. Aruri Ethnicity and nation-building in the state of Israel / Calvin Goldscheider Syria's threat to Israel /Hirsch Goodman The Iranian nuclear threat against Israel / Steven R. David -- III. Iraq and Iran. Pashtunistan : Afghanistan, Pakistan -- and Iraq / Stephen Tanner The land and people of modern Iraq / Phebe Marr Impacts of the Iraq War / James DeFronzo America's troubled moment in the Middle East / William L. Cleveland and Martin Bunton Maliki consolidates power in post-Saddam Iraq / Phebe Marr The Iranian revolution and its consequences / David W. Lesch Islamic republic of Iran : political dynamics and foreign policy / Mark Gasiorowski Iran's regional foreign policy / Manochehr Dorraj Iran, Israel, and the United States / Scott Ritter The Iranian predicament /Mmichael Axworthy -- IV. The Islamists. Islamists and democracy : the Egyptian Muslim brotherhood / Marwan Bishara Talking to terrorists : Hamas and Hezbollah / Mark Perry -- V. The Arab spring. The Arab spring, 2011 / Eugene Rogan Egypt : Mubarak and after / Arthur Goldschmidt Jr. Bashar al-Assad, Syria, and the Arab spring / David W. Lesch The Arab world at the intersection of the national and the transnational / James L. Gelvin -- VI. Looking forward. The contemporary Middle East : some questions, some answers / Shibley Telhami -- Glossary -- Notable persons -- Chronology since World War I.