M. E. McMillan

From the First World War to the Arab Spring

What's Really Going on in the Middle East?

• Broschiertes Buch

Produktbeschreibung

Offering a comprehensive, up-to-date examination of the complex web of wars and proxy wars, revolutions and counter-revolutions that are ripping the Middle East apart, this book puts these events in their historical context and leads readers through the labyrinth that is the new Middle East. This book seeks answers to pressing, contentious questions. Why are there so many hereditary heads of state in the Middle East when the Prophet Muhammad did not appoint a successor? Why do Western countries claim to want democracy in the Middle East, yet support dictators? Why did Israel become a democracy while the Arab states did not? Why are there so many wars in the Middle East? And, most importantly, what happened to the hope and optimism of the Arab Spring? M.E. McMillan offers fresh answers to these difficult questions. Firmly grounded in historical research and insightful analysis of current events, this book gives readers a new understandingof what's really going on in the Middle East.

Produktdetails

• Middle East Today
• Verlag: Palgrave Macmillan / Palgrave Macmillan US / Springer Palgrave Macmillan
• Artikelnr. des Verlages: 978-1-137-52204-7
• 1st ed. 2016
• Seitenzahl: 279
• Erscheinungstermin: 4. November 2015
• Englisch
• Abmessung: 216mm x 139mm x 22mm
• Gewicht: 384g
• ISBN-13: 9781137522047
• ISBN-10: 1137522046
• Artikelnr.: 42906601

Autorenporträt

M. E. McMillan is author of Fathers and Sons: The Rise and Fall of Political Dynasty in the Middle East and the acclaimed The Meaning of Mecca: The Politics of Pilgrimage in Early Islam. She has worked as a translator for the United Nations in New York and Geneva.

Inhaltsangabe

Acknowledgements
Notes on conventions
Introduction Lost in the Labyrinth: What's Really Going on in the Middle
East?
PART I: THE TANGLED WEB: WHY THE GREAT POWERS OF EUROPE BECAME INVOLVED IN
THE MIDDLE EAST
1. Sarajevo, Sunday, June 28, 1914
2. The British Empire and the Arab World: Ambition, Austerity and A Class
Apart
3. The French Empire and the Arab World: From the Crusades to the
Civilizing Mission
4. The Russian Empire and the Arab World: Religion, Rome and the New Rome
5. The German Empire and the Arab World: Family Feuds and Eastern Ambitions
6. The Ottoman Empire: How the Arab World Was Won and Lost
PART II: TOO MANY STRAIGHT LINES ON THE MAP: WHERE, WHEN AND WHY IT STARTED
TO GO WRONG
7. London, Tuesday, December 21, 1915
8. The Arab World Before the War: The Facts on the Ground
9. The Re-Making of the Middle East: Enter the Nation-State
10. From Sykes-Picot to the Treaty of Sèvres: Betrayals, Backstabbing and
Broken Promises
11. The Poisoned Legacy and The War's Unanswered Questions
PART III: ALL OR NOTHING: WHY ALL ROADS LEAD TO JERUSALEM
12. Where to Begin?
13. Jerusalem: The Temple Mount
14. Jerusalem: The Noble Sanctuary
PART IV: KINGS, COLONELS AND COUPS: WHY THERE IS A DEMOCRATIC DEFICIT IN
THE ARAB WORLD
15. Cairo, Wednesday, July 23, 1952
16. The Kings, the Colonels and the Political Time Warp: The Return of the
Middle Ages
17. I am the State: Power, Politics and the Cult of Personality
18. The Problem of Absolute Power: From Stability to Stagnation
PART V: THE SACRED VERSUS THE SECULAR: WHO SPEAKS FOR ISLAM?
19. Mecca, Tuesday, November 20, 1979
20. 1979: The View from Tehran
21. 1979: Holy War and Unholy Alliances
22. The Arab Spring and the Democratic Alternative
Epilogue Untangling the Web: What Now?
Select Bibliography
Index

Rezensionen

"This book is an enjoyable read, one that would satisfy a large range of readers. ... a succinct, well written and engaging narrative, offering a clear and lucid discussion of the last 100 years. As such, this work will be certainly beneficial for general readers and undergraduate students." (Roberto Mazza, First World War Studies, Vol. 9 (3), August, 2019)

"McMillan effortlessly stimulates readers by retelling how a contingent event or one person's small decision has surprisingly altered and significantly sealed the fate of the Middle East from the outbreak of the First World War. ... Nevertheless, From the First ... Middle East? remains an invaluable addition to the field of Middle East Studies and democratization studies. ... the unique contribution of this book should also be of interest to scholars in the field of the Global South." (Wai Yip Ho, Bandung: Journal of the Global South, December, 2018)

"The book's wealth of historical and contextual background allows for an empirically rich analysis of the major historical events. McMillan has produced a work of exceptional lucidity that scholars, students and policy makers alike will consult for years to come. It is a valuable contribution to academia as well as highly recommended reading for the generalist, who will find it compelling and informative." (Ahmed Sajjad, Middle East Policy, Vol. 24 (3), 2017)

"I would certainly recommend it. It is clear, well written and accurate, but above all balanced and sympathetic, and a great place to start." (Hugh Kennedy, Times Higher Education, timeshigherededucation.com, May, 2016)

"M. E. McMillan has written a cultural and political history with the clear and objective language of unbiased journalism. ... McMillan succeeds admirably in presenting readers with a complete yet concise briefing on the last fifteen hundred years. ... It is a truly brilliant piece of writing." (Hubert O'Hearn, San Diego Book Review, sandiegobookreview.com, December, 2015)