The Tragedy of the Middle East [Paperback]

This book explains why the previous era in the Middle East came to an end.Three interlinked themes are crucial to the book. First, a reinterpretation of the era of upheaval the Middle East has passed through, which the author calls the Era of Radical Expectations. During that period, many Arabs believed that some leader or radical movement would unite the region, solving all its problems. Second, an evaluation of how the historical experience of the period between the 1940s and the 1990s undermined the old system. Third, an analysis of the region today, in what the author terms the Era of Reluctant Pragmatism, as the Middle Eastern societies decide their relationships to the West.Three interlinked themes are crucial to the book. First, a reinterpretation of the era of upheaval the Middle East has passed through, which the author calls the Era of Radical Expectations. During that period, many Arabs believed that some leader or radical movement would unite the region, solving all its problems. Second, an evaluation of how the historical experience of the period between the 1940s and the 1990s undermined the old system. Third, an analysis of the region today, in what the author terms the Era of Reluctant Pragmatism, as the Middle Eastern societies decide their relationships to the West.The Middle East has changed clearly, substantially, and dramatically during the last decade. Yet scholarly and public understanding lags far behind recent events. Barry Rubin's historical and political summation of the region shows how events and ideas have both shaped and altered its character. Three interlinked themes are crucial to the book. First, a reinterpretation of the era of recent upheaval the Middle East has just passed through, which the author calls the Era of Radical Expectations. During that period, many Arabs believed that some leader, country, or radical movement would unite the region, solving all its problems. Second, an evaluation of how the historical experienl#