The Middle East (Congressional Quarterly; 9th Edition)

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Summary: great background for the middle east after WWII
Review: Congressional Quarterly has published a great source for the Middle East. Ir provies plenty of information to better understand the region and focuses on the main issues in it. The Arab-Israeli conflict is dealt with starting from the original British mandate for ISrael to the post-Oslo time. It also focuses on U.S. foriegn policy in the region looking how differetn presidential administrations and the U.S. congress have dealt with the region. Oil and gas interests are mentioned disucssing issues that relate to it such as OPEC, the oil embargo, the Persian Gulf War and the 1986 price crash. The influence of Islam is also talked about focusing on how it as unified and fractured the Middle East. The book also has country profiles to better understand how each individiual country operates as well as providing a timeline of the Middle East since the end of WWII and short biographies of the area's main leader.