Synopses & Reviews
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, as well as major addresses by President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Contributors include notable academic authors Arthur Goldschmidt Jr., William Cleveland, Colbert Held, Shibley Telhami, David Lesch, David E. Long, Bernard Reich, Samih Farsoun, and Phebe Marr, complemented by selections from recent general-interest books by Mark Matthews, Zake Chehab, Farnaz Fassihi, Michael Axworthy, Ali Ansari, and Lee Harris, among many others. With twenty new chapters and a new integrative opening essay by honored scholar Arthur Goldschmidt Jr., the second edition isa probing examination of the current affairs of the Middle East. Its multiple readings on strategic pairings of topics (Israel and Palestine, Iran and Iraq) illuminate the region’s key issues from a variety of perspectives. 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, select bibliography, glossary, brief biographical register, and chronology, in addition to numerous maps.
Review
Praise for the first edition:
"A brilliant, well-organized and timely compilation of sophisticated and pertinent works on the politics of the Middle East. An absolute must for any course on the politics of the Middle East." —Amaney Jamal, Princeton University
“A worthy and unique job ... A welcome resource to teachers of the contemporary governments and politics of the Middle East, and to the general reader who is looking for a sound path to understanding the dynamics of the local and international politics of this critical region.” —Naseer H. Aruri, University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth
Synopsis
An updated collection of incisive essays on contemporary political situations in the Middle East, with emphases on Israel, Palestine, Iraq, and Iran.
About the Author
Karl Yambert received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Davis, and is executive editor with Westview Press.