Collapse Middle East

This survey of the tragic history of the Middle East since 1956 lays bare the historical roots of the complex problems now facing the region. The various currents of Arab nationalism, the growing strength of Islamic fundamentalism, the shattering impact of the oil boom, the rivalries of the superpowers, the disintegration of Lebanon, the failure of the Palestinian national movement to reach its goal, the domination of Israel over a fragmented Arab world - all these strands are brought together in an attempt to understand the present. Professor Corm looks at the attitudes of Arab leaders and social elite to the modern world and to the needs of their own society - their desperate love-hate relationship with the West, their socio-economic and cultural environment and their attempts to cope with almost overwhelming odds. The book challenges and tries to overcome the misunderstandings between the Arabs and the West which have existed since the early nineteenth century.