Few regions of the world have been featured so prominently in the news in recent years as the Middle East and North Africa, invariably in a negative context. With two-thirds of the world's proven oil reserves and a strategic location at the junction of three continents, it has seen almost constant military intervention and political interference from outside, most recently in the form of US involvement in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. This has fueled powerful local responses, both culturally and politically. Today, bloody internal wars rage in several countries. The region is also the birthplace and focal point of Islam, the world's second largest universal faith, ensuring that its global importance will endure. But Judaism and Christianity also have strong historical and spiritual connections with this region, connecting it to the larger world in numerous ways. Because the contemporary political map of the Middle East was largely an arbitrary product of European colonial rule, it remains deeply flawed, contributing to territorial and boundary conflicts that have contributed to extreme militarization. The combination of religious and linguistic diversity aggravates the region's political problems, destabilizing states. In a world facing rapid climate change, the Middle East and North Africa face particularly grave challenges, with water scarcity already a serious problem and likely to get worse at a time when population is growing rapidly. Yet most American students are still largely uninformed about this vitally important region, viewing it through a lens that is distorted by ignorance, fear, demagoguery, and cultural prejudice. This book aims to sharpen and clean that lens, providing students with an understanding of key regional characteristics, challenges, and issues.
Alasdair Drysdale is the co-author of The Middle East and North Africa: A Political Geography and Syria and the Middle East Peace Process and the author of numerous book chapters, journal articles, and encyclopedia entries on the region. The winner of the Lindberg Prize for Outstanding Teaching at the University of New Hampshire, he has taught a course on the Middle East and North Africa for over forty years. He has been invited to offer testimony at hearings on the Middle East before a US Congressional subcommittee on Foreign Affairs and served on the editorial board of Arab World Geographer.
Table of Contents Chapter 1. Introduction Regional Definition and Nomenclature The Region Defined in this Book Global Importance Organization of the Book Chapter 2. Physical Environment Physical Landscape Climate Climate Change Chapter 3. Water Dimensions of Water Stress Water Sources Chapter 4. Population Spatial Distribution and Density Human Impact Population Data Concepts and Processes Family Planning Aging Chapter 5. Migration Theories and Concepts Overview of Major Flow Countries Receiving Immigrants Countries Mostly Providing Emigrants Transit Migration Forced Migration: Refugees Human Trafficking Chapter 6. Religion Islam as a Global Faith Links with Judaism and Christianity Origins and Diffusion Scriptures and Laws Five Pillars Sunnis and Shi'is Other Dimensions of Diversity Non-Muslims Chapter 7. Language Key Concepts Afro-Asiatic Languages Turkic Languages Indo-European Languages Chapter 8. Political Map From Empires to States From State to Nation Boundaries Regional Integration Chapter 9. Economy Offshore Interests National Jurisdiction Offshore Boundaries and Boundary Disputes Access to the Sea International Straits and Waterways Chapter 10. Petroleum Global Context The Transportation of Oil Evolution of Concessions and Ownership Prices The Regional Impact Changing Sources of Global Energy Chapter 11. A Summary: Subregions and States The Northern Tier The Central Middle East Arabian Peninsula The Nile Valley Northwestern Africa About the Author
