The Contemporary Middle East in an Age of Upheaval - by James L Gelvin (Paperback)

About the Book

"The U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003 and the Arab uprisings of 2010-2011 left indelible imprints on the Middle East. Yet, these events have not reshaped the region as pundits once predicted. With this volume, top experts on the region offer wide-ranging considerations of the characteristics, continuities, and discontinuities of the contemporary Middle East, addressing topics from international politics to political Islam, hip hop to human security. This book engages six themes to understand the contemporary Middle East--the spread of sectarianism, abandonment of principles of state sovereignty, the lack of a regional hegemonic power, increased Saudi-Iranian competition, decreased regional attention to the Israel-Palestine conflict, and fallout from the Arab uprisings--as well as offers individual country studies. With analysis from historians, political scientists, sociologists, and anthropologists, and up-to-date discussions of the Syrian Civil War, impacts of the Trump presidency, and the 2020 uprisings in Lebanon, Algeria, and Sudan, this book will be an essential guide for anyone seeking to understand the current state of the region"--

Book Synopsis

The US invasion of Iraq in 2003 and the Arab uprisings of 2010-11 left indelible imprints on the Middle East. Yet, these events have not reshaped the region as pundits once predicted. With this volume, top experts on the region offer wide-ranging considerations of the characteristics, continuities, and discontinuities of the contemporary Middle East, addressing topics from international politics to political Islam, hip hop to human security.

This book engages six themes to understand the contemporary Middle East--the spread of sectarianism, abandonment of principles of state sovereignty, the lack of a regional hegemonic power, increased Saudi-Iranian competition, decreased regional attention to the Israel-Palestine conflict, and fallout from the Arab uprisings--as well as offers individual country studies. With analysis from historians, political scientists, sociologists, and anthropologists, and up-to-date discussions of the Syrian Civil War, impacts of the Trump presidency, and the 2020 uprisings in Lebanon, Algeria, and Sudan, this book will be an essential guide for anyone seeking to understand the current state of the region.

Review Quotes

"The Contemporary Middle East is a much-needed interdisciplinary study about the state of the Middle East in the early decades of the twenty-first century."--Arab Studies Quarterly

"A first-rate collection of analyses from leading scholars across a range of disciplines, The Contemporary Middle East in an Age of Upheaval is essential reading for anyone interested in how the Middle East has and has not changed since the uprisings of 2011."--Jillian Schwedler, Hunter College, CUNY

"In the past two decades, the Middle East has faced an external invasion, civil wars and populist uprisings. Thus, it is fitting that a collection of Middle East scholars have come together to assess the future of this turbulent region."--Ray Takeyh, Survival: Global Politics and Strategy

"The essays in The Contemporary Middle East in an Age of Upheaval, edited by distinguished historian James Gelvin, are an indispensable guide to making sense of the Middle East's current disorder and future direction. A must-read for academics, policy makers, and informed general audiences."--Frederic Wehrey, Senior Fellow, Middle East Program, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

About the Author

James L. Gelvin is Professor of History at the University of California, Los Angeles. He is the author of The New Middle East: What Everyone Needs to Know (2018) and The Modern Middle East: A History, now in its fifth edition (2020), among other books.