International Relations of the Middle East in the 21st Century

Historically embedded in the context of confrontation, political dynamics in the Middle East today threaten to spin out of control at the international level. This work is an analysis by scholars of the inter-related dimensions of confrontation that have entangled almost every aspect of contemporary politics in the region. The sustained confrontation between dominant external interests and regional politics is the common theme across the 12 chapters that comprise the book. These chapters are organized into three sections based on subdivisions of this common theme. The two chapters in the first section, "The Regional System", situate the context of the Middle East in terms of historical and contemporary global dimensions. The second section, "The Regional System After the Gulf War", is composed of four chapters and examines the major sources of inter-state rivalry and tension in the region. Section Three, "The Global Context", composed of five chapters, expands the focus to include those international actors and historically rooted issues that continue to have a profound effect on the region.