Middle East

Now Available in Paperback! UN sanctions have become an increasingly popular weapon in the political armory of the international community—a supposedly effective means, short of war,    More >

In the present golden era of Iranian fiction, women writers—contrary to what many in the West perceive—are making a powerful contribution to the literary scene. Reflecting this,    More >

Rami Ginat offers an entirely new reading of the evolution of communism in Egypt, including the central role of Egyptian Jews in both its development and its impact on Egypt and the wider    More >

Scott Seward Smith focuses on Afghanistan's 2004 presidential election—the first popular election ever held there—as he explores the painstaking attempt by the United Nations    More >

The recent deaths of four long-term heads of state in the Arab world heralded important changes, as political power passed from one generation to the next. Shedding light on these changes,    More >

Nizar Kabbani’s poetry has been described as "more powerful than all the Arab regimes put together" (Lebanese Daily Star). Reflecting on his death in 1998, Sulhi Al-Wadi    More >

Why do authoritarian regimes prevail in the Middle East, while successful democratic transitions are occurring elsewhere in the developing world? Authoritarianism in the Middle East    More >

Bored housewives, kept in seclusion, smuggling in Harlequin romances. Modish young men transformed into Islamic militants. A baker unwittingly caught in a web of intrigue, an imam whose    More >

Traditional, urban Egyptian women—baladi women—extol themselves with the proverb, "A baladi woman can play with an egg and a stone without breaking the egg." Evelyn    More >

For years the authoritarian regimes of the Arab world displayed remarkable persistence. Then, beginning in December 2010, much of the region underwent rapid and remarkable political    More >

Scholars and writers often encounter problems when conducting research on Asian and African countries because of the scarcity or inaccessibility of information about the lives of significant    More >

The final volume in a trilogy that includes The Flutes of Death and Mother Spring, Birth at Dawn extends to the eighth century the story of the arrival of Islam in Morocco and Algeria. First    More >

In the midst of the continuing violence of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, there are many who remain committed to moving forward on the road to peace. The Palestinian and Israeli    More >

How might Arab countries build the foundations for rule of law in the wake of prolonged authoritarian rule? What specific challenges do they confront? Are there insights to be gained from    More >

T. E. Lawrence once observed that Saudi Arabia had "so little art" that it could "be said to have no art at all." Whether that was once the case is arguable. But that it    More >