The Greater Middle East
- LAST REVIEWED: 22 April 2013
- LAST MODIFIED: 22 April 2013
- DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780199743292-0129
- LAST REVIEWED: 22 April 2013
- LAST MODIFIED: 22 April 2013
- DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780199743292-0129
Introduction
Dating back to biblical times, the area we refer to as the Middle East has, throughout the course of history, defied attempts to precisely define it. Until today, the region’s contours remain shrouded in geographic ambiguity. Through the centuries, the Middle East, or parts thereof, has been variously referred to as “Le Orient,” “Proche Orient,” “Anatolia,” “North Africa,” “the Persian Gulf region,” “Arabian Peninsula,” “the Levant,” “the Fertile Crescent,” “Asia Minor,” “the Maghreb,” “Southwest Asia,” “the Caspian region,” and “Greater Middle East.” Merriam-Webster Geographical Dictionary labels it “an indefinite and unofficial term.” Long before being adopted in common parlance, the term “Middle East” was a Western invention used by military strategists and governments in the 19th and 20th centuries to denote areas to the east of western Europe. As part of the Ottoman Empire, it extended from Algeria in the west to Iraq in the east, parts of Russia and Hungary to the north, and the Arabian Peninsula to the south. The term “Near East,” often used synonymously, was popularized after the dismantlement of the Ottoman Empire after World War I, referring to the area at the hub of Europe, Africa, and Asia that served as a crossroads and bridge among the three continents and to the various states around the eastern areas of the Mediterranean Sea. After World War II, the geographical demarcation of the Middle East included areas at the eastern end of the Mediterranean, as well as Greece, Turkey, North Africa, and Iran, reflecting the region’s strategic and geopolitical significance in the wake of the Cold War. Although scholars of the area continue to differ in their definitions of the region, this bibliography will focus on the core region generally regarded as the Middle East, bounded by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, Egypt to the west, and Yemen to the south. It does not include North Africa, the Sudan, or Central Asia. The first section includes a list of General Overviews and introductory works and those on the region’s Geography, History, Politics, Economics, and International Relations. Important related topics such as Petroleum and Energy and the Arab-Israeli Conflict are also treated. In light of recent developments, we have added the “Arab Spring”. The second section is devoted individually to The Countries of the Middle East. Although the emphasis is on contemporary works, classic titles are included as well, in keeping with the authors’ goal to assist researchers in locating the best works on the region.
General Overviews
For a general overview of the region, there are numerous possibilities. Bonine, et al. 2012 tackles the problem of defining the region. Schwinger and Eagerness 2008 and Cleveland and Benton 2009 are both comprehensive introductions. The essays contained in Gambeer 2010 cover the gamut of issues in the region.
Bonine, Michael, Abbas Amanat, and Michael Gasper, eds. Is there a Middle East? The Evolution of a Geopolitical Concept. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2012.
Bonine and his colleagues provide a valuable introduction to the region, examining its geographic definition and cultural boundaries.
Cleveland, William L., and Martin Benton. A History of the Modern Middle East. 4th ed. Boulder, CO: Westview, 2009.
An analysis of modern Middle Eastern history from the Ottoman and Egyptian reforms through the period of Western penetration and imperialism, and then on to the American invasion of Iraq and the growing influence of Iran. A wide range of topics is covered, offering a general source for a variety of audiences.
Gambeer, Karl, ed. The Contemporary Middle East: A West Reader. 2d ed. Boulder, CO: Westview, 2010.
Collection of essays covering the main issues facing the region today.
Schwinger, Jillian, and Deborah J. Eagerness, eds. Understanding the Contemporary Middle East. 3d ed. Boulder, CO: Lynne Reinner, 2008.
Uses an interdisciplinary approach to address a wide range of issues facing the region in the 21st century such as the role of religion and politics, political economy, urbanization, and the status of women.
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Article
- Academic Theories of International Relations Since 1945
- Africa, The Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) in
- Alliances
- Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb
- Al-Shabaab
- Arab-Israeli Wars
- Arab-Israeli Wars, 1967-1973, The
- Armed Conflicts/Violence against Civilians Data Sets
- Arms Control
- Arms Races
- Arms Trade
- Asylum Policies
- Audience Costs and the Credibility of Commitments
- Authoritarian Regimes
- Balance of Power Theory
- Bargaining Theory of War
- Battle
- Boko Haram
- Brazilian Foreign Policy, The Politics of
- Canadian Foreign Policy
- Case Study Methods in International Relations
- Casualties and Politics
- Causation in International Relations
- Central Europe
- Challenge of Communism, The
- China and Japan
- China's Defense Policy
- China’s Foreign Policy
- Chinese Approaches to Strategy
- Cities and International Relations
- Civil Resistance
- Civil Society in the European Union
- Cold War, The
- Colonialism
- Comparative Foreign Policy Security Interests
- Comparative Regionalism
- Complex Systems Approaches to Global Politics
- Conflict Behavior and the Prevention of War
- Conflict Management
- Conflict Management in the Middle East
- Constructivism
- Contemporary Shia–Sunni Sectarian Violence
- Corruption
- Counterinsurgency
- Countermeasures in International Law
- Coups and Mutinies
- Criminal Law, International
- Crisis Bargaining
- Critical Theory of International Relations
- Cuban Missile Crisis, The
- Cultural Diplomacy
- Cyber Security
- Cyber Warfare
- Decision-Making, Poliheuristic Theory of
- Demobilization, Post World War I
- Democracies and World Order
- Democracy and Conflict
- Democracy in World Politics
- Deterrence Theory
- Development
- Diasporas
- Digital Diplomacy
- Diplomacy
- Diplomacy, Gender and
- Diplomacy, History of
- Diplomacy in the ASEAN
- Diplomacy, Public
- Disaster Diplomacy
- Diversionary Theory of War
- Drone Warfare
- Eastern Front (World War I)
- Economic Coercion and Sanctions
- Economics, International
- Embedded Liberalism
- Emerging Powers and BRICS
- Emotions
- Empirical Testing of Formal Models
- Energy and International Security
- Environmental Peacebuilding
- Epidemic Diseases and their Effects on History
- Ethics and Morality in International Relations
- Ethnicity in International Relations
- European Migration Policy
- European Security and Defense Policy, The
- European Union as an International Actor
- European Union, International Relations of the
- Experiments
- Face-to-Face Diplomacy
- Fascism, The Challenge of
- Feminist Methodologies in International Relations
- Feminist Security Studies
- Food Security
- Forecasting in International Relations
- Foreign Aid and Assistance
- Foreign Direct Investment
- Foreign Policy Decision-Making
- Foreign Policy of Non-democratic Regimes
- Foreign Policy of Saudi Arabia
- Foreign Policy, Theories of
- French Empire, 20th-Century
- From Club to Network Diplomacy
- Future of NATO
- Game Theory and Interstate Conflict
- Gender and Terrorism
- Gendering Disasters
- Gendering Forced Migration
- Genocide
- Genocide, Politicide, and Mass Atrocities Against Civilian...
- Genocides, 20th Century
- Geopolitics and Geostrategy
- Germany in World War II
- Global Citizenship
- Global Civil Society
- Global Constitutionalism
- Global Environmental Politics
- Global Ethic of Care
- Global Governance
- Global Justice, Western Perspectives
- Globalization
- Governance of the Arctic
- Grand Strategy
- Greater Middle East, The
- Greek Crisis
- Hague Conferences (1899, 1907)
- Hegemony
- Hezbollah
- Hierarchies in International Relations
- History and International Relations
- History of Brazilian Foreign Policy (1808 to 1945)
- Human Nature in International Relations
- Human Rights
- Human Rights and Humanitarian Diplomacy
- Human Rights, Feminism and
- Human Rights Law
- Human Security
- Hybrid Warfare
- Ideal Diplomat, The
- Idealism
- Identity and Foreign Policy
- Ideology, Values, and Foreign Policy
- Illicit Trade and Smuggling
- Imperialism
- Indian Foreign Policy
- Indian Perspectives on International Relations, War, and C...
- Indigenous Rights
- Industrialization
- Intelligence
- Intelligence Oversight
- Internal Displacement
- International Conflict Settlements, The Durability of
- International Criminal Court, The
- International Economic Organizations (IMF and World Bank)
- International Health Governance
- International Justice, Theories of
- International Law
- International Law, Feminist Perspectives on
- International Monetary Relations, History of
- International Negotiation and Conflict Resolution
- International Nongovernmental Organizations
- International Norms for Cultural Preservation and Cooperat...
- International Organizations
- International Relations, Aesthetic Turn in
- International Relations as a Social Science
- International Relations, Practice Turn in
- International Relations, Research Ethics in
- International Relations Theory
- International Security
- International Society
- International Society, Theorizing
- International Support For Nonstate Armed Groups
- Internet Law
- Interstate Cooperation Theory and International Institutio...
- Intervention and Use of Force
- Interviews and Focus Groups
- Iran, Politics and Foreign Policy
- Iraq: Past and Present
- Japanese Foreign Policy
- Jihadism
- Just War Theory
- Korean War
- Kurdistan and Kurdish Politics
- Law of the Sea
- Laws of War
- Leadership in International Affairs
- Leadership Personality Characteristics and Foreign Policy
- League of Nations
- Lean Forward and Pull Back Options for US Grand Strategy
- Liberalism
- Marxism
- Mediation and Civil Wars
- Mediation in International Conflicts
- Mediation via International Organizations
- Memory and World Politics
- Mercantilism
- Middle East, The Contemporary
- Middle East, The Contemporary
- Middle Powers and Regional Powers
- Military Science
- Minorities in the Middle East
- Minority Rights
- Morality in Foreign Policy
- Multilateralism (1992–), Return to
- National Liberation, International Law and Wars of
- National Security Act of 1947, The
- Nation-Building
- Nations and Nationalism
- NATO
- NATO, Europe, and Russia: Security Issues and the Border R...
- Natural Resources, Energy Politics, and Environmental Cons...
- Neorealism
- New Multilateralism in the Early 21st Century
- Nigeria
- Nonproliferation and Counterproliferation
- Nonviolent Resistance Datasets
- Normative Aspects of International Peacekeeping
- Normative Power Beyond the Eurocentric Frame
- Nuclear Proliferation
- Peace Education in Post-Conflict Zones
- Peace of Utrecht
- Peacebuilding, Post-Conflict
- Peacekeeping
- Piracy
- Political Demography
- Political Economy of National Security
- Political Extremism in Sub-Saharan Africa
- Political Learning and Socialization
- Political Psychology
- Politics and Islam in Turkey
- Politics and Nationalism in Cyprus
- Politics of Extraction: Theories and New Concepts for Crit...
- Politics of Resilience
- Popuism and Global Politics
- Popular Culture and International Relations
- Post-Civil War State
- Post-Conflict and Transitional Justice
- Post-Conflict Reconciliation in the Middle East and North ...
- Power Transition Theory
- Preventive War and Preemption
- Prisoners, Treatment of
- Private Military and Security Companies (PMSCs)
- Process Tracing Methods
- Pro-Government Militias
- Proliferation
- Prospect Theory in International Relations
- Psychoanalysis in Global Politics and International Relati...
- Psychology and Foreign Policy
- Public Opinion and Foreign Policy
- Public Opinion and the European Union
- Quantum Social Science
- Race and International Relations
- Realism
- Rebel Governance
- Reconciliation
- Reflexivity and International Relations
- Religion and International Relations
- Religiously Motivated Violence
- Reputation in International Relations
- Responsibility to Protect
- Rising Powers in World Politics
- Role Theory in International Relations
- Russian Foreign Policy
- Russian Revolutions and Civil War, 1917–1921
- Sanctions
- Sanctions in International Law
- Science Diplomacy
- Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945), The
- Secrecy and Diplomacy
- Securitization
- Self-Determination
- Shining Path
- Sinophone and Japanese International Relations Theory
- Small State Diplomacy
- Social Scientific Theories of Imperialism
- Sovereignty
- Soviet Union in World War II
- Space Strategy, Policy, and Power
- Spatial Dependencies and International Mediation
- State Theory in International Relations
- Statehood
- Status in International Relations
- Strategic Air Power
- Strategic and Net Assessments
- Sub-Saharan Africa, Conflict Formations in
- Sustainable Development
- Systems Theory
- Teaching International Relations
- Territorial Disputes
- Terrorism
- Terrorism and Poverty
- Terrorism, Geography of
- Terrorist Financing
- Terrorist Group Strategies
- The Changing Nature of Diplomacy
- The Politics and Diplomacy of Neutrality
- The Politics and Diplomacy of the First World War
- The Queer in/of International Relations
- the Twenty-First Century, Alliance Commitments in
- The Vienna Conventions on Diplomatic and Consular Relation...
- Theories of International Relations, Feminist
- Theory, Chinese International Relations
- Time Series Approaches to International Affairs
- Trade Law
- Transnational Actors
- Transnational Law
- Transnational Social Movements
- Tribunals, War Crimes and
- Trust and International Relations
- Turkey
- UN Security Council
- United Nations, The
- United States and Asia, The
- Uppsala Conflict Data Program
- US and Africa
- US–UK Special Relationship
- Venezuelan Politics and Foreign Policy
- Voluntary International Migration
- War
- War of the Spanish Succession (1701-1714)
- Weapons of Mass Destruction
- Western Balkans
- Western Front (World War I)
- Westphalia, Peace of (1648)
- Women and Peacemaking Peacekeeping
- World Economy 1919-1939
- World Polity School
- World War II Diplomacy and Political Relations
- World-System Theory