ABSTRACT
The richness of Middle Eastern landscape and life is such that a volume like this can only hope to provide a few basic insights. The complexity can perhaps best be summarized by a series of paradoxes. Above all, within the apparent unity of the region there is great diversity. Culture, religion, language, climate, desert landscapes, the vital relationship with water, availability of oil money are all, to a greater or lesser degree, unifying factors. However, none is homogeneous or monolithic. All display diversity to the patient observer.
