Remaking the Middle East [Hardcover]

How realistic is peace in the Middle East? Certainly there appears to be a reduction in conflict, and concrete improvements are clearly visible: the Gulf War opened the door to regional realignments that paved the way for the PLO-Israel peace agreement, which in turn made peace negotiations possible between Israel and Syria; Lebanon is rebuilding its cities following a cessation of its civil war; Iran has evidenced signs of a rapprochement with the West.Yet some analysts predict that these changes are doomed to failure. With its longstanding territorial disputes and pronounced ethnic and religious divides, will this troubled region ever resolve its conflicts? Pessimists further contend that vexed problems such as gender relations and human rights violations remain unaffected by the processes of international political readjustment.This provocative and interdisciplinary book tackles these controversial questions from a wide range of perspectives in an effort to unravel the complexities of this exciting area, which is the spotlight of tremendous global concern -- never more so than at the present.

Paul J. White, Deakin University
William S. Logan, Deakin University

A wide-ranging collection of papers on the dynamics, trends and possible fixture(s) of the Middle East in the 1990s, this volume offers much food for thought. International Affairs

The introduction to the book is a godsend. British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies

Paul J. White & William S. Logan, Introduction -- Michael Humphrey, Civil War, Community and State in the Middle East -- Pam Stavropoulos, Dichotomy and Complementarity: Tenets of Islam and their Interrelationship -- Larbi Sadiki, The Impasse of Liberalising Arab Authoritarianism: The Cases of Algeria and Egypt -- Maroun Kisirwani, The Rehabilitation and Reconstruction of Lebanon -- Nabila Jaber, Islam Revisited: Wo(men)hood, Nationhood, and the Legitimating Crisis of Gender Equality -- Fiona Hill, The Gló-