Informal networks are an elusive and hidden factor in every society. In the Middle East, the Arab Spring recently highlighted their power and scope from Iraq to Morocco, exposing how family and clan n
The domestication of the horse in the fourth millennium BC altered the course of mankind's future. Formerly a source only of meat, horses now became the prime mode of fast transport as well as a versa
Yemen in the twenty-first century is a country which is enormously unstable. With the former president Ali Abdullah Salih signing over power in the aftermath of eleven months of protest in November 20
Turkey's recent foreign policy has led to fractious relations with countries in the Middle East and the US. Written by the former chief foreign policy advisor to the Turkish president and based on unp
Although the political situation in Palestine is more serious than ever, contemporary Palestinian art and film are, paradoxically, becoming more humorous in their responses. Laughter in Occupied Pales
What if modernism had been characterised by evolving, interconnected and multi-sensory images—rather than by the monolithic objects often described by its artists and theorists? In this groundbreaking
Maurice Thorez (1900-1964) was a major figure in the history of twentieth-century France and European Communism. During more than three decades as Secretary-General of the French Communist Party, the
Rethinking Heritage brings together leading writers and thinkers to examine the ways in which ingrained assumptions about heritage are being challenged today. It explores the key questions that surrou
The book phenomenon of 'Club Government' in the mid-nineteenth century, when many of the functions of government were alleged to have taken place behind closed doors, in the secretive clubs of London'
Since the age of the Sasanian Empire (224–651 AD), Iran and the West have time and again appeared to be at odds. Iran and the West charts this contentious and complex relationship by examining the myr
Lebanese society is famously, and even notoriously, fragmented, along both class and sectarian lines. Here, Nabil Dajani looks at how this societal division impacts on the nature of the mass media in
Whether it is a half-naked Ross Poldark working in the fields or Lord Grantham in front of Downton Abbey, representations of historical masculinity currently dominate our television screens. In recen
When the Bolshevik Revolution broke out in October 1917, much of Central Asia was still ruled by autonomous rulers such as the Emir of Bukhara and the Khan of Khiva. By 1920 the khanates had been tran
Since the 1993 Oslo Accords, the Occupied Palestinian Territory has been the subject of extensive international peacebuilding and statebuilding efforts coordinated by Western donor states and internat
How does religious fundamentalism operate in modern global society? This is the second book in a two-volume set analyzes the dynamics of fundamentalism and its relationship to the modern state, the pu
The economic regeneration and post-war reconstruction of West Germany is one of the most remarkable success stories of the 20th century. However, little is known about the processes and debates that f
How does religious fundamentalism operate in modern global society? This book is the first in a two-volume set that analyzes the dynamics of fundamentalism and its relationship to the modern state, th
The end of World War II intensified Morocco's nationalist struggle against French colonial rule, with the establishment of the Istiqlal (independence) party and the Moroccan sultan's emergence as a na
What does it mean to be an intellectual in Egypt today? What is expected from an 'authentic scholar'? And how does the mass media influence or reflect intellectual debates? Hatsuki Aishima explores th
Arabic and Persian panegyric poetry was one of the most important genres of literature in the medieval Middle East and Central Asia. Jocelyn Sharlet argues that panegyric poetry is important not only
