Government and Politics of the Middle East and North Africa

Now in its sixth edition, The Government and Politics of the Middle East and North Africa continues to provide with authoritative and comprehensive overviews of the history, politics, foreign policies, and critical contemporary events and issues of each country in the Middle East and North Africa. Thoroughly revised and updated throughout, with chapters written specifically for this volume by invited specialists, this edition offers vital new considerations of the protests that followed President Ahmadinejads 2009 reelection; the political dynamics and foreign policy of postwar Iraq; Israels post-Sharon politics and policies; the fragmentation of Palestinian representation between Hamas in Gaza and Fatah in the West Bank; Syrias emergence from US-led international isolation; Turkeys evolving relations with the United States, Russia, and the European Union, and its ongoing confrontation with the Kurdish question; and the paralysis and crisis of the Lebanese government. Facilitating cross-national comparison and contrast, the chapters address in common the topics of historical background, political structures and institutions, political dynamics, social and economic conditions, and foreign and national security policies. In addition, revised data tables for each country provide ready summaries of the ethnic groups, religious affiliations, major political parties, and leading import/export partners in each country. Each chapter concludes with an annotated bibliography as a guide to further reading. Seventeen new maps specially drawn for this edition represent each of the countries.