ABSTRACT
There seems little doubt that the Middle East will remain one of the world’s major arenas of crisis, war, and international policy dispute in the years to come. Indeed, scholars and political analysts contend, it is likely to remain so for the first half of the twenty-first century. In order to look forward into the future, therefore, it remains of utmost importance to understand this complex region in its unique historical perspective and with all its competing points of view.
