Contrasts & Solutions in the Middle East

This volume provides an interdisciplinary overview of the Middle East, from age-old enmities to discussions of current political concerns. In 42 essays, an international assemblage of scholars and politicians address the problems of: Palestine and Israel; Iran, Syria and Turkey; and the Kurdish regions. By discussing the essential conflicts of the ancient lands and their modern counterparts, a deeper portrait of the region is constructed. The traditional importance of access to water is countered by the significance of oil, the conflict between settled peoples and nomads is reflected in the growing rift between the secular and the fundamental. The ancient suppression or genocide of minorities continues in the modern issues of human rights and ethnic cleansing. Concerned with questions of national, religious or ethnic identification, the authors the following topics: the definitions of the Middle East , the Salman Rushdie fatwa, the constancy of the Mosque as an institution, mass murders in Iraq, the role of women, the crises affecting the Assyrian Chaldean-Syriacs, torture in Iran and the peace process. Comprehensive chapters chart the politics, ethnicity and history of Turkey.