Middle East in Focus – serie

The Muslim Brotherhood is the oldest and most important international Islamist group. Aside from strong organizations in Egypt, Jordan, Syria—where it provides the main opposition—and its Palestinian offshoot Hamas which rules the Gaza Strip, the Brotherhood has become active in Europe and North America.

The Muslim Brotherhood is the oldest and most important international Islamist group. Aside from strong organizations in Egypt, Jordan, Syria—where it provides the main opposition—and its Palestinian offshoot Hamas which rules the Gaza Strip, the Brotherhood has become active in Europe and North America.

Nabih Barri is a key figure in the Lebanese and Shi'ite politics for the last three decades. As the leader of the Shi'ite Amal movement since 1980 and as the Lebanese Speaker since 1992, Barri played a major role in all political events and processes in Lebanon between the early 1980's and today, including the current severe Lebanese crisis.

The book examines the Hezbollah movement from a multidisciplinary, comprehensive, historical, and systematic perspective to explain how it has evolved since its inception in the early 1980s to the present.

Against a background of weak and contested  national identity and capricious interaction between religious affiliation and confessional politics, this book illustrates in detailed analysis this "comprehensive" project of Islamism according to its ideological and practical evolutionary change.

This book provides readers with a fresh analysis of the Arab state by using a new theoretical framework: hybrid sovereignty. The author examines various areas to make his argument: citizenship, the issue of minorities, electoral engineering, the failure of central rule, tribalism, and the lack of impersonal bureaucratic mechanism.

Coming at the heels of September 11, Operation Iraqi Freedom has focused the limelight on the way in which the United States predicts and manages political change. The failure to find WMD and more important, the continued violence in Iraq instead of the hoped for democracy, has engender an acrimonious debate on the motives of the Bush administration and its uses or misuses of intelligence. The question of who got what right or wrong has been fought out along ideological, and partisan lines, with supporters claiming that, given what was known about Saddam Hussein, the decision to change his regime was justified and detractors arguing that a group of largely Jewish neoconservatives, acting on behalf of Israel, manipulated intelligence in order to trick the United States into an unnecessary and costly war. The book provides a systematic and objective analysis of the problems that faced American intelligence in deciphering the behavior of the highly secretive and confusing Iraq regime and its enigmatic leader.

No country in the world has more political battles, military conflicts, and ethnic complexity per person and per square mile than does Lebanon. This book explains the issues, events, and personalities involved in one of the globe's most dramatic and important stories.

The book examines the Hezbollah movement from a multidisciplinary, comprehensive, historical, and systematic perspective to explain how it has evolved since its inception in the early 1980s to the present.

No country in the world has more political battles, military conflicts, and ethnic complexity per person and per square mile than does Lebanon. This book explains the issues, events, and personalities involved in one of the globe's most dramatic and important stories.

Nabih Barri is a key figure in the Lebanese and Shi'ite politics for the last three decades. As the leader of the Shi'ite Amal movement since 1980 and as the Lebanese Speaker since 1992, Barri played a major role in all political events and processes in Lebanon between the early 1980's and today, including the current severe Lebanese crisis.

Against a background of weak and contested  national identity and capricious interaction between religious affiliation and confessional politics, this book illustrates in detailed analysis this "comprehensive" project of Islamism according to its ideological and practical evolutionary change.

This book provides readers with a fresh analysis of the Arab state by using a new theoretical framework: hybrid sovereignty. The author examines various areas to make his argument: citizenship, the issue of minorities, electoral engineering, the failure of central rule, tribalism, and the lack of impersonal bureaucratic mechanism.

Coming at the heels of September 11, Operation Iraqi Freedom has focused the limelight on the way in which the United States predicts and manages political change. The failure to find WMD and more important, the continued violence in Iraq instead of the hoped for democracy, has engender an acrimonious debate on the motives of the Bush administration and its uses or misuses of intelligence. The question of who got what right or wrong has been fought out along ideological, and partisan lines, with supporters claiming that, given what was known about Saddam Hussein, the decision to change his regime was justified and detractors arguing that a group of largely Jewish neoconservatives, acting on behalf of Israel, manipulated intelligence in order to trick the United States into an unnecessary and costly war. The book provides a systematic and objective analysis of the problems that faced American intelligence in deciphering the behavior of the highly secretive and confusing Iraq regime and its enigmatic leader.

Exploring continuities and changes, this book provides the historical backdrop crucial to understanding how Iranian pride and sense of victimization combine to make its politics contentious and potentially dangerous.

Exploring continuities and changes, this book provides the historical backdrop crucial to understanding how Iranian pride and sense of victimization combine to make its politics contentious and potentially dangerous.

A leading Turkish political scientist enhances understanding of the interactions of liberal democracy with longstanding cultural cleavages along secular-religious lines, ethnicity, and social class. This chronological narrative focuses on how the process of urbanization and industrialization has led to social mobilization and population movements.

A leading Turkish political scientist enhances understanding of the interactions of liberal democracy with longstanding cultural cleavages along secular-religious lines, ethnicity, and social class. This chronological narrative focuses on how the process of urbanization and industrialization has led to social mobilization and population movements.

This handbook provides an overview of the society, culture, geography, history, and politics of contemporary Egypt.While such historic monuments as the pyramids at Giza, the Karnak Temple, and the Valley of the Kings draw visitors to Egypt each year, the country is today a large and varied collection of some 79 million people. An important political and cultural force in the Middle East and home to one of Africa's most advanced economies, Egypt is rapidly becoming a major player in the 21st-century world.This comprehensive text examines all facets of life in Egypt, including its land, history, politics, and culture. It is written in a manner that makes the subject accessible and engaging for readers with little prior knowledge about the country, but also provides a critical analysis of the latest research for students and scholars familiar with Egypt and its people. Special attention is given to the historical period following the rise of Islam to enable a greater understanding of Egypt's contemporary government, religious practices, popular culture, and current events.

This handbook provides an overview of the society, culture, geography, history, and politics of contemporary Egypt.While such historic monuments as the pyramids at Giza, the Karnak Temple, and the Valley of the Kings draw visitors to Egypt each year, the country is today a large and varied collection of some 79 million people. An important political and cultural force in the Middle East and home to one of Africa's most advanced economies, Egypt is rapidly becoming a major player in the 21st-century world.This comprehensive text examines all facets of life in Egypt, including its land, history, politics, and culture. It is written in a manner that makes the subject accessible and engaging for readers with little prior knowledge about the country, but also provides a critical analysis of the latest research for students and scholars familiar with Egypt and its people. Special attention is given to the historical period following the rise of Islam to enable a greater understanding of Egypt's contemporary government, religious practices, popular culture, and current events.

This book describes all aspects of Saudi Arabia, including its government, economy, society, and culture, as well as its role in the Middle East and its position internationally.In this comprehensive introduction to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, author Sherifa Zuhur reveals the fascinating people, culture, politics, and economic development of the largest Arab country of the Middle East.The book provides a detailed summary of Arabian history from the earliest settlements on the Arabian peninsula to the present day, with a focus on the rise of the current Saudi regime. It provides essential background on the oil politics of the Kingdom dating back to the discovery of oil in the late 1930s, an account of Saudi Arabia's subsequent economic advancement, and explanations of emerging societal issues such as labor importation and the changing roles of women. Saudi Arabia also details the Kingdom's cultural and religious milieu, including its music, poetry, architecture, legal system, and prominence in the Islamic world.

This book describes all aspects of Saudi Arabia, including its government, economy, society, and culture, as well as its role in the Middle East and its position internationally.In this comprehensive introduction to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, author Sherifa Zuhur reveals the fascinating people, culture, politics, and economic development of the largest Arab country of the Middle East.The book provides a detailed summary of Arabian history from the earliest settlements on the Arabian peninsula to the present day, with a focus on the rise of the current Saudi regime. It provides essential background on the oil politics of the Kingdom dating back to the discovery of oil in the late 1930s, an account of Saudi Arabia's subsequent economic advancement, and explanations of emerging societal issues such as labor importation and the changing roles of women. Saudi Arabia also details the Kingdom's cultural and religious milieu, including its music, poetry, architecture, legal system, and prominence in the Islamic world.

Yemen is a country that is critical to U.S. security and our political interests, yet most Americans know virtually nothing about it. This book unlocks its secrets and explains its complexities in simple yet compelling language.A nation with a rich civilization that has spanned 3,000 years, Yemen is the only democratic republic in the Arabian Peninsula. While events in modern-day Yemen are often in international news, most Americans know nothing about this country—nor are there easy-to-read, up-to-date resources for lay audiences. This book fills the gap in the literature. It describes Yemen's geography, economy, politics and government, history, culture, society and contemporary events, presenting a comprehensive but accessible overview of the country from many different angles—coverage that is long overdue.Editor Steven C. Caton has taken care to create a resource that is readily comprehensible to non-specialists such as high school and college students and general readers as well as highly informative for those with previous knowledge about Yemen. His thorough treatment provides synthetic overviews of key topics, discusses and dismisses certain misconceptions about Yemen, offers surprising perspectives on the relatively unknown country, and underscores Yemen's importance to the region and the wider world—both in ancient times and today.

Yemen is a country that is critical to U.S. security and our political interests, yet most Americans know virtually nothing about it. This book unlocks its secrets and explains its complexities in simple yet compelling language.A nation with a rich civilization that has spanned 3,000 years, Yemen is the only democratic republic in the Arabian Peninsula. While events in modern-day Yemen are often in international news, most Americans know nothing about this country—nor are there easy-to-read, up-to-date resources for lay audiences. This book fills the gap in the literature. It describes Yemen's geography, economy, politics and government, history, culture, society and contemporary events, presenting a comprehensive but accessible overview of the country from many different angles—coverage that is long overdue.Editor Steven C. Caton has taken care to create a resource that is readily comprehensible to non-specialists such as high school and college students and general readers as well as highly informative for those with previous knowledge about Yemen. His thorough treatment provides synthetic overviews of key topics, discusses and dismisses certain misconceptions about Yemen, offers surprising perspectives on the relatively unknown country, and underscores Yemen's importance to the region and the wider world—both in ancient times and today.

This book documents how Israel emerged as one of the world's leading centers of high technology over the last three decades and the impact that it has had, or failed to have, on the wider economy and politics. Based on the study of start-up companies, the project attributes the rise of Israel's tech economy to its unique history, political system, and culture, and shows how those same factors have failed it in the quest to diversify its economy to make it more inclusive and equitable. This work will interest economists, political scientists, Israeli studies academics, investors, policy makers, journalists, and business readers.

This book documents how Israel emerged as one of the world's leading centers of high technology over the last three decades and the impact that it has had, or failed to have, on the wider economy and politics. Based on the study of start-up companies, the project attributes the rise of Israel's tech economy to its unique history, political system, and culture, and shows how those same factors have failed it in the quest to diversify its economy to make it more inclusive and equitable. This work will interest economists, political scientists, Israeli studies academics, investors, policy makers, journalists, and business readers.

This handbook provides an overview of the society, culture, geography, history, and politics of contemporary Egypt.While such historic monuments as the pyramids at Giza, the Karnak Temple, and the Valley of the Kings draw visitors to Egypt each year, the country is today a large and varied collection of some 79 million people. An important political and cultural force in the Middle East and home to one of Africa's most advanced economies, Egypt is rapidly becoming a major player in the 21st-century world.This comprehensive text examines all facets of life in Egypt, including its land, history, politics, and culture. It is written in a manner that makes the subject accessible and engaging for readers with little prior knowledge about the country, but also provides a critical analysis of the latest research for students and scholars familiar with Egypt and its people. Special attention is given to the historical period following the rise of Islam to enable a greater understanding of Egypt's contemporary government, religious practices, popular culture, and current events.

This book describes all aspects of Saudi Arabia, including its government, economy, society, and culture, as well as its role in the Middle East and its position internationally.In this comprehensive introduction to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, author Sherifa Zuhur reveals the fascinating people, culture, politics, and economic development of the largest Arab country of the Middle East.The book provides a detailed summary of Arabian history from the earliest settlements on the Arabian peninsula to the present day, with a focus on the rise of the current Saudi regime. It provides essential background on the oil politics of the Kingdom dating back to the discovery of oil in the late 1930s, an account of Saudi Arabia's subsequent economic advancement, and explanations of emerging societal issues such as labor importation and the changing roles of women. Saudi Arabia also details the Kingdom's cultural and religious milieu, including its music, poetry, architecture, legal system, and prominence in the Islamic world.