A Concise History of the Middle East Book

Illustrations ii

Preface to the Tenth Edition xv

1 Introduction 1

What Is History? 1

Then and Now, There and Here 4

The Physical Setting 5

Some Descriptive Geography 6

Conclusion 11

2 The Middle East Before Muhammad 13

Persia and Rome 14

The Arabs 18

Conclusion 23

3 The First Muslim Revolution 24

Muhammad's Early Life 24

The Emigration (Hijra) 29

Aisha Bint Abi-Bakr 33

What Do Muslims Believe? 36

What Muslims Must Do 39

Conclusion 43

4 The Early Arab Conquests 44

The Succession Issue 44

The Initial Conquests 45

The Beginnings of Islamic Government 48

Dissension in the Umma 49

Changes in the Government of Islam 52

Mu'awiya Ibn-Abi-Sufyan 55

Conclusion 58

5 The High Caliphate 60

Restoration of the Umayyad Order 61

The Downfall of the Umayyads 64

The Abbasid Caliphate 65

Mamun 71

The Decline of the Abbasids 72

Conclusion 72

6 Shiites and Turks; Crusaders and Mongols 74

Shiite Islam in Power 75

The Turks 79

The Crusades 84

The Mongol Invasion 87

Hulegu Khan 89

Conclusion 90

7 Islamic Civilization 91

The Rules and Laws of Islam 91

Development of Jurisprudence 92

Islamic Society 97

Intellectual and Cultural Life 102

Theology 106

Ahmad Ibn Hanbal 108

Conclusion 109

8 Firearms, Slaves, and Empires 111

The Mamluks 112

The Mongol Il-Khanids 115

Gunpowder Technology 118

The Ottoman Empire 119

Orhan 123

Persia Under the Safavids 131

Conclusion 135

9 European Interests and Imperialism 136

Ottoman Weakness 136

The European Powers and the Eastern Question 138

The Koprulu Family of Viziers 139

Conclusion 146

10 Westernizing Reform in the Nineteenth Century 147

Egypt's Transformation 148

Westernization of the Ottoman Empire 153

Mustafa Reshid Pasha 157

Persia Under the Qajars 158

Conclusion: Afterthoughts 160

11 The Rise of Nationalism 163

Egyptian Nationalism 165

Ahmad Urabi 169

Ottomanism, Pan-Islam, and Turkism 173

Nationalism in Persia 176

The Constitutionalist Movement 178

Conclusion 179

12 The Roots of Arab Bitterness 181

Arab Nationalism 181

World War I 186

The Postwar Peace Settlement 192

Faysal ibn al Husayn 193

Conclusion 197

13 Modernizing Rulers in the Independent States 198

Turkey: Phoenix from the Ashes 199

Mustafa Kemal (Ataturk) 202

From Persia to Iran 210

The Rise of Saudi Arabia 217

Conclusion 223

14 Egypt and the Fertile Crescent Under European Control 224

Egypt's Struggle for Independence 225

The Creation of New States in the Fertile Crescent 230

Phony Democracy and False Independence 235

King Faruq 237

World War II 241

Postwar Egypt 242

Egypt's Era of Political Frustration 243

Independence for Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq 246

Conclusion 247

15 The Contest for Palestine 248

Origins 248

Political Zionism 249

The Beginnings of Political Zionism 251

Britain and the Palestine Problem 254

Amin al-Husayni 258

Conclusion 266

16 Israel's Rebirth and the Rise of Arab Nationalism 267

Israel's War for Independence 267

The War's Aftermath 270

The Arab Countries 273

Israel's Early Years 279

David Ben-Gurion 282

Middle Eastern Oil 283

The Great Powers and the Arab World 284

Rising Arab-Israeli Tensions 292

Conclusion 295

17 War and the Quest for Peace 298

The June 1967 War 299

The Palestinians 304

Abortive Peace Efforts 306

Political Changes: 1967-1970 307

Anwar al-Sadat 312

Danger Signs in the Middle East 313

The October (Yom Kippur) War 317

The War's Aftermath 320

Lebanon: The Arena for a New Arab Struggle 324

The Road to Camp David 327

Conclusion 331

18 The Reassertion of Islamic Power 333

The Changing Role of Religion in Politics 335

The Iranian Revolution 336

Sayyid Ruhollah Musavi Khomeini 338

The Struggle for Gulf Supremacy 344

The Retreat from Camp David 349

Western Policy Formation and Islamic Polity 359

Conclusion 361

19 The Gulf War and the Peace Process 362

The Gulf Crisis 363

Operation Desert Storm 369

The Palestinians: Their Struggle and an Elusive Peace 371

Yasir Arafat 377

Whither Islam? 381

Conclusion 382

20 The War on Terrorism 384

Survey of Terrorism 385

Osama bin Laden 386

The Iraq War 397

The Contest for Palestine (Redux) 404

Conclusion 411

21 In the Season of Arab Discontent 412

Some Background 413

Rebellion Across the Region 414

Repercussions in the Non-Arab Middle East 429

Conclusion 432

Chronology 437

Glossary 455

Appendix Table 1: Basic Statistics for Middle Eastern Countries 490

Appendix Table 2: How Many Palestinians (2007)? 492

Index 493