Looking for books on Middle Eastern Politics

[rep the dems]

I'll be spending my next semester of college at Oxford as part of a study abroad honors program that I was accepted into and have a few different tutorial proposals for which I need to do some summer reading. One of them is Middle Eastern Politics, and I figured DUers might have some good recommendations for what to read. I'm not too specific in what I'm looking for, something that is more recent and deals with the latest developments would be best, but really I just want something with valuable information to help me better understand that part of the world. Any suggestions are encouraged, thanks for your help!

[dixiegrrrrl]

1. I found these to be a helpful start.

It is my serious opinion that you cannot separate the "current" politics of the Middle East
from the history of the Middle East.
A good beginning would be how the Middle East was divided up after WW l and again after WW2.

Bernard Lewis has written a definitive book or two" "the Middle East"
Barbara Tuchman did a great job with her "Bible and Sword".
Closer to the present is "All the Shaw's Men" by Steven Kinzer.
and

Taliban: Militant Islam, Oil and Fundamentalism in Central Asia
Author: Ahmed Rashid ( Rashid is a very good source of many articles on the Middle East)

Kevin Philips has a must read: American Theocracy : The Peril and Politics of Radical Religion, Oil, and Borrowed Money in the 21stCentury

And, for the inside look on why our current policy is what it is, from the man who whispers in
Obama's ear:
The Choice: Global Domination or Global Leadership
Author: Zbigniew Brzezinski

Once you go on amazon to look these books up, there will many others recommended on the same page.

Good luck...happy reading.

[Name removed]

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[Sequoia]

3. I read, "All the Shaw's Men" and liked it. It's shelved next to "All the President's Men".

[abluelady]

4. Check out Robert Baer

He has written a few books on the mideast--he was a CIA operative located there for many years.

[onager]

5. From a former resident of the Middle East...

I'm American, but I have lived for 2 years in Saudi Arabia and 4 years in Egypt, from 2005-09.

Naturally I wanted to learn something about the area, so here are a few of my favorites:

Robert Fisk, The Great War for Civilisation - yes, the title is sarcastic. Sweeping history of ME troubles, ending with the 2003 occupation of Iraq.

Fisk was the Middle East correspondent for several British newspapers, finishing up with the Independent, I think. He was based in Beirut and also wrote a book on the sad history of that country, Pity The Nation.

David Fromkin, A Peace To End All Peace: The Fall of the Ottoman Empire and the Creation of the Modern Middle East.

Robert Lacey, The Kingdom - history of Saudi Arabia. Somewhat dated now, since it came out in the 1980's. But still useful.

Video: BBC Two: Suez: A Very British Crisis - how the British tried an Egyptian "regime change" in 1956, with some unexpected consequences - the near-crash of the British economy, a fuel crisis, and the fall of Anthony Eden's government. Funniest part - the British entered secret agreements with the French and the Israelis, and expected them to stay secret.

This is a great 4-part BBC "docudrama," fortunately more docu than drama. The fourth part is told completely from the Egyptian side, which provides a welcome (and unusual) balance.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/6045808.stm