| Description |
viii, 439 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm |
| Contents |
Part I. Failure. 1. The Arab World --- 2. Deception and Division: 1914-48 --- 3. Hope and Disaster: 1948-70 --- 4. Despair: 1970-93 --- 5. The Corruption of the State --- 6. Economic Stagnation --- 7. The Collapse of Algeria --- 8. The Search for a Reason ---- Part II. Reform. 9. The Demand for Legitimate Government --- 10. The IMF's Medicine --- 11. Structural Reform --- 12. Political Islam --- 13. Islamic Government --- 14. Steps Towards Democracy --- 15. Society and Democracy --- 16. The Problems of Saudi Arabia --- 17. Pressures for Peace --- 18. Peace --- 19. A Pragmatic Arab World --- 20. The West and the Arabs |
| Summary |
Precious oil and export markets, wars in Lebanon and the Persian Gulf, peace talks at the White House, terrorist eruptions: more now than ever, Arab affairs are the West's affair. And yet as we find ourselves increasingly enmeshed in its politics and economics, the Middle East remains a mystery to most of us, a world of dimly understood connections and impenetrable complexities. The Arab world at last becomes accessible in this book. The only study to include developments since the Gulf War and the historic pact between Israel and the PLO, Inside the Arab World gives us a complete and detailed picture of the region as it is today, as well as a clear sense of how Arab affairs have evolved and where they may lead. Despite its abundance of oil, the Arab world has failed to produce a single successful economy. Michael Field, a recognized expert and longtime reporter on the Arab states, ably explores the cultural, political, and geographic reasons for this failure. Ranging from Algeria to the Gulf States to Egypt and Syria, he considers the fragmentation of society, the people's tolerance of bad government, corruption, and the deadening economic effect of Arab socialism. But he also shows how the region--influenced partly by exposure to Western media, partly by reforms imposed by creditors--is changing now, taking its first cautious steps toward democracy, whose opportunities so far have been most firmly grasped by Islamic fundamentalists |
| Analysis |
Middle East |
|
Politics |
|
Arabs |
|
Democracy |
|
Economic systems |
|
Islam |
|
Middle East |
|
Overseas item |
|
Political change |
|
Saudi Arabia |
| Notes |
Includes index |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographies |
| SUBJECT |
Arab countries -- Economic conditions.
http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh2008114210
|
|
Arab countries -- Politics and government -- 1945- http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85006286
|
| LC no. |
gb 94053020 |
| ISBN |
0719550963 (hbk) |
|
