A longtime bestseller, Politics and Change in the Middle East employs a multidisciplinary approach to comprehensively and evenhandedly study the region‘s past, present, and future. Through politics, economics, culture, and history, this text offers a rugged analytical framework that familiarizes students with the Middle East and helps them to critically evaluate contemporary developments. Thematically organized, Politics and Change in the Middle East introduces students to the primary acto...

Benazir Bhutto returned to Pakistan in October 2007, after eight years of exile, hopeful that she could be a catalyst for change. Upon a tumultuous reception, she survived a suicide-bomb attack that killed nearly two hundred of her countrymen. But she continued to forge ahead, with more courage and conviction than ever, since she knew that time was running out—for the future of her nation, and for her life.In Reconciliation, Bhutto recounts in gripping detail her final mon...

The Middle East in the 21st century has witnessed a game-changing rollercoaster ride that has transformed relationships across the boards. Turkey underwent the most dramatic changes of its democratic history, propelling it into the role of major regional actor. The "Arab Spring" cast the region into political and social turmoil. US-led wars devastated the lands and peoples of several countries with widespread, rippling repercussions. And the balance of global power shifted dramatically, br...

The Invisible Arab traces the roots of the revolutions in the Arab world. Marwan Bishara, chief policy analyst of Al Jazeera English and the anchor of the program "Empire", combines on-the-ground reporting, extensive research and scholarship, and political commentary in this book on the complex influences that made the revolutions possible. Bishara argues that the inclusive, pluralistic nationalism that motivated the revolutions are indispensable to their long-term success....

Salman Rushdie once described Pakistan as a 'poorly imagined country'. Indeed, Pakistan has meant different things to different people since its birth seventy years ago. Armed with nuclear weapons and dominated by the military and militants, it is variously described around the world as 'dangerous', 'unstable', 'a terrorist incubator' and 'the land of the intolerant'. Much of Pakistan's dysfunction is attributable to an ideology tied to religion and to hostility with the country out of whi...

An eye-opening argument for a new approach to Iran, from two of America's most informed and influential Middle East experts."Balanced, sober, impressively document, and rich in insight . . . a valuable antidote to the warmongering that passes for analysis of Iran and US-Iranian relations."—Andrew J. Bacevich, author of Breach of TrustLess than a decade after Washington endorsed a fraudulent case for invading Iraq, ...

The recent revolution in Egypt has shaken the Arab world to its roots. The most populous Arab country and the historical center of Arab intellectual life, Egypt is a lynchpin of the US's Middle East strategy, receiving more aid than any nation except Israel. This is not the first time that the world and has turned its gaze to Egypt, however. A half century ago, Egypt under Nasser became the putative leader of the Arab world and a beacon for all developing nations. Yet in the decades prior ...

Among U.S. allies in the war against terrorism, Pakistan cannot be easily characterized as either friend or foe. Nuclear-armed Pakistan is an important center of radical Islamic ideas and groups. Since 9/11, the selective cooperation of president General Pervez Musharraf in sharing intelligence with the United States and apprehending al Qaeda members has led to the assumption that Pakistan might be ready to give up its longstanding ties with radical Islam. But Pakistan's status as an Islam...

With clarity and concision, Juan Cole disentangles the key foreign policy issues that America is grappling with today--from our dependence on Middle East petroleum to the promotion of Islamophobia by the American right--and delivers his informed advice on the best way forward. Cole's unique ability to take the true Muslim perspective into account when looking at East-West relations make his insights well-rounded and prescient as he suggests a course of action on fundamental issues like rel...

This is a collection of essays written about the Arab revolts, and trying to answer the questions many people are raising: why did such revolts occur? Were they preceded by precursory signs? What role played the domestic political elite in toppling the dictators? What role played the foreign powers? What were the claims of the protesters? Were they manipulated? How about the political process that followed the downfall of Ben Ali, Mubarak, Gaddafi, Ali Abdullah Saleh? What about the neighb...

A comprehensive introduction to Yemen's current crises, major players, and potential solutions to an ongoing civil war. In 2014, a tribal alliance from Yemen's northern regions seized the capital city of Sana'a and overthrew a republic that had ruled since 1962. Known as the Houthi Movement, these rebels are today vying for control, sparring with southern separatist movements and former President Ali Abdullah Saleh's political party. Indeed, Yemen--located in the southwest...

How do Arabs view America? How do Arabs learn about America? The answers to these questions have assumed tremendous importance since 9/11,because therein lies the key to influencing Arab opinion of the United States in a favorable direction. Attainment of this goal has, thus far, eluded diplomats, foreign policy experts, and military strategists.America is losing the all-important struggle for the hearts and minds of Arabs, according to El-Bendary, because of what Arabs call its a...