Inside the Middle East: Entering a New Era

Six years have passed since the publication of Inside the Middle East: Making Sense of the Most Dangerous and Complicated Region on Earth. The goal of that 2016 book was to provide the database to understand the contemporary Middle East.

Yet, the Middle East of 2021 is not the Middle East of 2016. As we enter the third decade of the twenty-first century, the shifting priorities and goals of the peoples and societies of the Middle East are redesigning the geopolitical map. Dramatic and historical changes are transforming the region as we speak. And these changes will write the next chapter of this area of the world.

The new era we are entering is both defined by and a result of a combination of domestic, regional, and international processes that have been evolving over the past decades. Iran and Turkey's hegemonic ambitions. The domestic, economic, and social challenges of the Arab world. The escalating political and social struggle over path, identity, and direction. People's striving for independence. The possibility of a new model of statehood in the Middle East. The end of Western hegemony in the region--and the rise of China--and India.

In addition to contextualizing and exploring these intertwined processes, Inside The Middle East: Entering A New Era challenges common Western concepts, narratives, and theories. The author provides an insider's view--based primarily on Arabic sources--into one of the world's most important and misunderstood regions.

Acclaimed Israeli intelligence analyst Avi Melamed has spent more than forty years interpreting Middle East affairs. An Israeli Jew, fluent in Arabic, Avi's professional background includes intelligence, counterterrorism, education, and public policy. His professional field and operational experience, hand-in-hand with his intimate connections throughout the Arab world, has taken him to alleys and streets throughout the Arab world, as well as to the corridors and halls of Washington, DC. A gifted analyst, these unique experiences contribute to Avi's unparalleled understanding of the Middle East and his stellar record of accurate predictions.

The Middle East is a chain of links --what happens in one place impacts what happens in another. And what happens in the Middle East does not stay in the Middle East.

Inside The Middle East: Entering A New Era provides the knowledge to connects the dots. This profoundly needed work offers the reader the tools to build a three-dimensional picture of current regional events. This multidimensional understanding provides leaders, influencers, and the public at large a rare opportunity to understand what makes the region tick. Understanding the reality of the Middle East affords readers the ability to accurately decipher the unfolding and evolving dynamics of the contemporary Middle East and equips the reader with a road map to navigate--and even predict--where the future may lead.