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| Introduction | |
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| About This Book | |
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| Conventions Used in This Book | |
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| Foolish Assumptions | |
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| How This Book Is Organized | |
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| Icons Used in This Book | |
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| Where to Go from Here | |
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| Getting Acquainted with the Middle East | |
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| The Middle East's Relevance in the 21st Century | |
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| Making Sense of It All | |
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| Navigating Through the Book | |
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| Charting a Map | |
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| Getting Acquainted with the Region | |
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| Identifying the Countries, the Land, and the Climate | |
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| Middle Eastern Hospitality | |
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| Meeting the People | |
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| Welcoming You into Their Homes | |
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| Trying the Cuisine | |
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| The History of the Middle East | |
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| The Ancient Middle East | |
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| The Land Formally Known as Mesopotamia (Iraq) | |
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| The Promised Land (Kings, Gods, and Prophets) | |
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| Egypt (Pharaohs, Gods, and Pyramids) | |
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| Iran | |
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| Anatolia (Turkey) | |
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| The Medieval Middle East | |
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| Islam's Birth and Adolescence | |
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| A Series of Crusades: Business as Usual | |
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| Uninvited Guests: The Mongols | |
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| Succeeding the Mongols: The Ilkhanids and Timurids | |
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| Unifying and Conquering: The Ottomans | |
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| Converting Safavids to Shiism | |
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| The Modern Middle East | |
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| A Love-Hate Relationship: The West in the Middle East | |
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| Clashing Ideologies: Zionism, Arab Nationalism, and the Islamic Revivalism | |
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| Putting the "Saudi" in Saudi Arabia | |
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| Establishing the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan | |
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| Carving Israel from Palestine | |
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| Coming of Age: Egypt Grows Up | |
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| The Shah(s) of Iran | |
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| Talking Turkey | |
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| Claiming the Prize: Lebanon and Syria | |
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| Politics, Islam, and Oil: Three Reasons Not to Ignore the Middle East | |
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| Leadership: Kings, Presidents, and Dictators | |
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| Monarchy: Failures and Triumphs | |
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| Democracy: Failures and Triumphs | |
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| Theocracy: Failures and Triumphs | |
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| Socialism | |
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| Communism | |
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| Disputed Areas | |
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| Islamic Militancy in a Nutshell | |
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| The Holy Warrior: Terrorist or Freedom Fighter? | |
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| Jihad: Holy War or Struggle? | |
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| Manipulating Madrasas: When Schools Teach Islamic Militancy | |
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| Islam and the West | |
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| The Clash of Civilizations | |
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| The Clash of Values | |
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| Remaining Aware of Uneasy Friendships and Mutual Distrust | |
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| Deciphering the Contradiction: Western Culture and Technology | |
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| It's All About the Oil: Economics in the Middle East | |
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| Struggling to Compete | |
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| If It Runs, It Runs on Oil | |
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| Economic Failures | |
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| Linking Economics to Politics | |
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| Regions in Turmoil | |
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| The Powder Keg: Israel and Palestine | |
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| Keeping the Mapmakers Busy | |
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| Uncovering the Origins of Militancy | |
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| Firefighting with a Blowtorch: The Third Arab-Israeli War | |
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| Adding More Fuel to the Fire: The Israeli Settlements | |
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| Sending International "Firefighters" to the Rescue: The Fourth Arab-Israeli War | |
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| Fanning the Flames in Lebanon | |
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| Lighting the Fuses: The First Intifada | |
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| Trying to Stomp Out the Fuses: Ehud Barak | |
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| Burning Still: The Cycle of Violence Continues | |
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| Approaching the Fire with a Cool Head | |
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| Iraq | |
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| Weathering Iraq's Stormy Romance with the West | |
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| Saddam Hussein: A Killer Statesman | |
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| Afghanistan | |
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| Setting the Stage for the Soviet Invasion | |
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| Fraternizing with the Soviets | |
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| New Kids on the Block: The Taliban and Al-Qaeda | |
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| Waging War on Terrorism: The United States Strikes Back | |
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| Pakistan | |
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| Partitioning India | |
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| Drawing a Blueprint for a Nuke | |
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| Helping the United States Fight the War on Terrorism | |
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| Regions in Repair | |
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| North Africa | |
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| Algeria | |
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| A Rebounding Egypt | |
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| Libya: Trouble on the Shores of Tripoli | |
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| The Sudan: A Land of Civil War and Famine | |
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| Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria | |
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| Juggling Diplomacy: How Current Politics Took Their Shape | |
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| Lebanon | |
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| Syria | |
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| The Arabian Peninsula | |
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| Saudi Arabia | |
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| Yemen | |
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| Non-Arab Muslim States | |
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| Iran | |
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| Somalia | |
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| Turkey: Politicians, Generals, and Kurds | |
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| Cultural Contributions of the Middle East | |
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| A Mosaic of Religions | |
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| Judaism | |
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| Christianity | |
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| Islam | |
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| Religions on the Edge | |
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| Religious Minorities | |
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| Mysticism | |
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| The Family: The Hub of Middle Eastern Life | |
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| Family Dynamics: Love, Honor, and Responsibility | |
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| The Lives of Women: Separation and Modesty | |
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| Language and Literature | |
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| Language, Ethnicity, and Tradition: You Are What You Speak | |
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| A Little Background on the Literature of the Middle East | |
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| Ancient Literature | |
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| Medieval Literature | |
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| Modern Literature | |
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| Arts and Sciences | |
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| Science and Philosophy: A Middle East Contribution | |
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| The Arts and Beyond | |
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| The Part of Tens | |
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| Ten Key Ethnic Groups | |
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| Arab | |
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| Armenians | |
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| Ashkenazim | |
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| Bedouin | |
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| Berbers | |
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| Kurds | |
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| Pashtuns | |
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| Persians | |
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| Sephardim/Oriental Jews | |
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| Turks | |
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| Ten Key Militant Groups | |
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| Al-Qaeda (International) | |
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| Hezbollah (Lebanon) | |
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| Kach and Kahane Chai (Israel) | |
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| Armed Islamic Group (Algeria) | |
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| Al-Gamaat al-Islamiyya (Egypt) | |
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| Islamic Jihads (Palestine and Egypt) | |
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| Hamas (Palestine) | |
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| Harakat al-Mujahidin (Pakistan and Kashmir) | |
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| Jaish-i Muhammad (Pakistan and Kashmir) | |
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| Kurdistan Workers Party (Turkey) | |
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| Ten Key Challenges | |
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| Assigning the Blame | |
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| Coming into the Nuclear Age | |
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| Economic Development and Poverty | |
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| Ethnic and Religious Pluralism | |
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| Gender Inequity | |
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| Islamic Extremism | |
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| Military Spending | |
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| Overcoming the Colonial Legacy | |
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| Unequal Distribution of Wealth | |
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| Western-Style Democracy | |
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| Index | |