The Contemporary Middle East

Presents a concise and balanced account of key topics in contemporary Middle Eastern history In The Contemporary Middle East: Foreign Intervention and Authoritarian Governance Since 1979, historian Martin Bunton presents a concise, fact-based narrative of the last four decades of the region's turbulent past. Covering a broad range of topics, with a particular focus on geopolitical and geostrategic aspects, this student-friendly textbook explores the causes of the sustained turmoil by focusing on three different but intersecting factors: foreign political and military intervention, failed authoritarian governance, and the ongoing Palestinian-Israeli conflict. With a clear and accessible narrative style, concise chapters describe the geopolitical consequences of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the signing of the Egyptian-Israeli treaty, the Iranian Revolution, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the rise of Saddam Hussein in Iraq, conservative protest movements in Saudi Arabia, the Arab Spring protest and uprisings, and much more. Throughout the text, Bunton highlights and discusses the Middle East's connections to broader global shifts, such as Cold War tensions and the expansion of Western intervention. The Contemporary Middle East: Foreign Intervention and Authoritarian Governance Since 1979 is an excellent textbook for undergraduate courses in history and political science, and a valuable resource for general readers looking for a succinct, easy-to-read survey of the last four decades of Middle Eastern history.