In this volume, forty-four scholars, decision-makers and experts provide an interdisciplinary overview of the Middle East, ranging from age-old enmities to current political concerns and the questions of national, religious and ethnic identification.
The authors draw many parallels from the essential conflicts of the ancient lands to their modern counterparts. 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 reft between the scular and the fundamental. THe ancient suppression or genocide of minorities continues in the modern issues of human rigths and ethnic cleansing.
