The Tragedy of the Middle East

This book explains why the previous era in the Middle East came to an end.

Barry Rubin (Author)

9780521806237, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 2 September 2002

296 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.1 cm, 0.555 kg

'Barry Rubin has written an important, spirited, mature meditation on the historical baggage of the modern Middle East. It asks the right questions about what ails modern Middle East societies. It has sweep and thoroughness. It is not severe in tone, more resigned than judgmental … I find in it a fine balance between concrete, specific data and wider theoretical concerns about politics and culture. Dr Rubin is a prolific author with wide experience, and this book draws on the work and judgment of a seasoned scholar. Free of jargon, written with considerable clarity and force, this book will earn its place and make its way in the current debate about the ordeal of modernity in that tormented region. Its chapters on anti-Americanism and the 'uncivil society' are quite smart and go against the conventional wisdom. This is an engaging book by an engaged author who really cares about his material and his subject.' Fouad Ajami, The John Hopkins University

The Middle East has changed clearly, substantially, and dramatically during the last decade. Yet scholarly and public understanding lags far behind these events. This book explains why the previous era came to end, giving an historical and political summation of the region. Three interlinked themes are crucial to the book. First, a reinterpretation of the era of upheaval the Middle East has just passed through. During that period, many Arabs believed that some leader, country, or radical movement would unite the region, solving all its problems. Second, an evaluation of how the historical experience of the period between the 1940s and the 1990s undermined the old system, making change necessary. Third, an analysis of the region today that helps explain future developments, in what the author terms the Era of Reluctant Pragmatism, as the Middle Eastern societies decide their relationships to the West.

1. The triumph of the 'old Middle East'
2. Paradigm lost
3. The regime's success, the nation's disaster
4. Syria, the test case for reform
5. Iran: the people versus the will of God?
6. Force and violence in Middle East politics
7. The battle for the soul of Islam
8. The Arab-Israeli conflict: foundation stone or millstone?
9. The political uses of anti-Americanism
10. The uncivil society and the wall of lies.

Subject Areas: International relations [JPS], Politics & government [JP], Islamic studies [JFSR2], Interfaith relations [HRAF], 20th century history: c 1900 to c 2000 [HBLW], Asian history [HBJF]