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  • The Contemporary Middle East: A Westview Reader ed. by Karl Yambert
  • Abdessamad Belhaj
Yambert, Karl (ed). The Contemporary Middle East: A Westview Reader. Boulder, Colo. ; Oxford, Westview Press, 2010.

Anthologies of the Middle East always face the dilemma of focus and comprehension. Compilations that choose focus inevitably exclude some significant countries, topics or periods. Conversely, broader collections lack coherence, impact and analysis. Ideally, wide-ranging compiled works might end as companions or readers, useful for the students and the general public. With its thirty one chapters and 422 pages, The Contemporary Middle East fully claims the choice of comprehension, and consequently, risks inconsistency. Yet, this reader benefits from three elements that tight the chapters together. First, the Middle East is an academic subject of its own, an area study rooted in the discipline of history and continuously supported by tools of political science. Thus, most of the contributors to this book are either historians or political scientists. Second, the chapters are selected from books published by the Perseus Books Group, especially by Westview in the recent years. Third, the editor has done a remarkable work of organization to give the collection a formal continuity.

That being the case, the volume does not fill any gap in our knowledge of the Middle East. It does not attempt to critically examine policies or conventional information on the region. Moreover, in few instances, expertise intermingles with propaganda. This is the case of some chapters on the key issues such the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Iran and Hezbollah. The book runs another eminent risk; by the incorporation of opposing views and interests on particular policies or perception of specific countries, the anthology might seem confusing at times.

The book is divided into four parts. The. first part introduces the reader to the history and background of the Middle East. Colbert C. Held and John Thomas Cummings open authored the first chapter highlight the cultural diversity, differences of language, religion and ethinicity of the region. Next, David L. Long, Bernard Reich, and Mark Gasiorowski analyse the Middle East, its political systems and its geopolitics. In the third chapter, Arthur Goldschmidt, Jr. and Lawrence Davidson explore the roots of what they call “Arab bitterness”, in the West’s policies towards Arab nationalism.

The second part comprises twelve chapters that discuss the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Although this issue is essential to the modern Middle East, [End Page 341] it could have been treated in less space, instead of exhausting almost half of the book, repeating facts and allowing clashing opinions. Glenn E. Robinson revisits the British promises to the Palestinians and Jews in the First World War. Robert O. Freedman examines the enemies of Israel, old (the Arab states) and new (Iran, Hamas, Hizbullah). Calvin Goldscheider argues that nation-building in the state of Israel is both shaped by the American Jewish community and by Palestinians in the occupied territories. William L. Cleveland and Martin Bonton depict the Israeli-Palestinian relations after the Oslo Accords. Barry Rubin maintains that the Palestinians missed a historic opportunity for a two-state solution in rejecting the Camp David II proposal in 2000. Idith Zertal and Akiva Eldar stress that Ariel Sharon’s “security fence” which consists in new settlements, unilateral withdrawal from Gaza aim at strengthening Israel’s control of the West Bank. David W. Lesch asserts that dealing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as a playing field between the USA and Iran blocked a possible Israeli-Syrian peace. Bernard Reich and Shannon Powers sustain that despite strategic support to Israel, the USA disagrees with its ally on several issues. Mark Matthews claims that Israeli and Western rejection of Hamas’s victory in the elections of 2006 led to an increasing Iranian influence over Hamas. Zaki Chehab believes that an Israeli withdrawal from West Bank might neutralize Iranian influence over Hamas and Hizbullah. Samih K. Farsoun and Naseer H. Aruri remember the millions of Palestinian refugees who are ignored on both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Finally, the 15th chapter reproduces Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu’s Bar Ilan Speech in which he endorses a two-state solution in 2009. However, Netanyahu would only negotiate such a solution if...

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