This book, along with it's companion, THE MIDDLE EAST by the Congressional Quarterly, was used in my undergraduate course on the History and Governments of the Middle East.
Politics and Change views the Middle East from a variety of perspectives: sociological, anthropological, political, historical and religious. It looks at the bases for diversity & unity in the region and the rise of Islam. It then discusses the formation of the early Islamic state and the development of the Sharia (religious law)from the Koran and the hadith (or statements and actions ascribed to Mohammad), the development of the Shia in opposition to the corrupt secular governments and the rise of the different sects. It then moves on to a discussion of Western Imperialism and the resulting development of nationalism and individual states (as opposed to the Umma or body of the believers as a whole), including the growth of Zionism and the establishment of the Israeli state.
Then changes in the political landscape, especially the (failed) Oslo Accord, are discussed as are religious and politics - and the 3 types of political elites and of the various forms leadership has taken. Moving on, it touches on the relations of the individual nations with the great powers (including the remnant of the now-defunct Soviet Union during its cold war competition with the United States) as well as looking at the foreign policies of the regional powers and at changes that have taken place globally (e.g., the fall of the old Soviet Union), the American-Iraq Persian Gulf War and the tensions with Kuwait and with regard to the Israeli-Palestine issue and Israel's relation to the larger Arab world.
Although this is only an introductory text, it makes a serious attempt at providing a holistic view of the Middle East and its often insoluble-appearing problems.
