A Choice of Enemies: America Confronts the Middle East (Hardcover), by Lawrence Freedman. PublicAffairs (May 12, 2008).
It is in the Middle East that the U.S. has been made to confront its attitudes on the use of force, the role of allies, and international law. The history of the U.S. in the Middle East, then, becomes an especially revealing mirror on America's view of its role in the wider world. In this wise, objective, and illuminating history, Lawrence Freedman shows how three key events in 1978–79 helped establish the foundations for U.S. involvement in the Middle East that would last for thirty years, without offering any straightforward or bloodless exit options: the Camp David summit leading to the Israel-Egypt Treaty; the Iranian Islamic revolution leading to the Shah's departure followed by the hostage crisis; and the socialist revolution in Afghanistan, resulting in the doomed Soviet intervention. Freedman makes clear how America's strategic choices in those and subsequent crises led us to where we are today. A Choice of Enemies is essential reading for anyone concerned with the complex politics of the region or with the future of American foreign policy.  Information

Insurgency and Counter-Insurgency in Iraq (Hardcover), by Ahmed S. Hashim. Cornell University Press (March 30, 2006).
More than two years after the U.S. invasion of Iraq, a loosely organized insurgency continues to target American and Coalition soldiers, as well as Iraqi security forces and civilians, with devastating results. In this sobering account of the ongoing violence, Ahmed Hashim, a specialist on Middle Eastern strategic issues and on irregular warfare, reveals the insurgents behind the widespread revolt, their motives, and their tactics. The insurgency, he shows, is not a united movement directed by a leadership with a single ideological vision. Instead, it involves former regime loyalists, Iraqis resentful of foreign occupation, foreign and domestic Islamist extremists, and elements of organized crime. These groups have cooperated with one another in the past and coordinated their attacks; but the alliance between nationalist Iraqi insurgents on the one hand and religious extremists has frayed considerably. The U.S.-led offensive to retake Fallujah in November 2004 and the success of the elections for the Iraqi National Assembly in January 2005 have led more "mainstream" insurgent groups to begin thinking of reinforcing the political arm of their opposition movement and to seek political guarantees for the Sunni Arab community in the new Iraq. Hashim begins by placing the Iraqi revolt in its historical context. He next profiles the various insurgent groups, detailing their origins, aims, and operational and tactical modi operandi. He concludes with an unusually candid assessment of the successes and failures of the Coalition's counter-insurgency campaign. Looking ahead, Hashim warns that ethnic and sectarian groups may soon be pitted against one another in what will be a fiercely contested fight over who gets what in the new Iraq. Evidence that such a conflict is already developing does not augur well for Iraq's future stability. Both Iraq and the United States must work hard to ensure that slow but steady success over the insurgency is not overshadowed by growing ethno-sectarian animosities as various groups fight one another for the biggest slice of the political and economic pie. In place of sensational headlines, official triumphalism, and hand-wringing, Insurgency and Counter-insurgency in Iraq offers a clear-eyed analysis of the increasingly complex violence that threatens the very future of Iraq. Information

Iraq and the War on Terror: Twelve Months of Insurgency 2004/2005 (Paperback), by Paul Rogers. I. B. Tauris (March 3, 2006).
Since the start of the Iraq conflict, world-renowned security expert Paul Rogers has produced a series of monthly reports scrutinizing developments in the occupation and the Iraqi response to it, drawing on the unique range of contacts and material available to the prestigious Oxford Research Group. Now, for the first time, Rogers has brought these reports together to provide a detailed and authoritative analysis of the last year in Iraq. Concisely-written and highly accessible, this is an indispensable book for anyone interested the Middle East, US foreign policy and international security. Information

Israeli Counter-Insurgency and the Intifadas: Dilemmas of a Conventional Army (Middle Eastern Military Studies) (Hardcover), by Sergi Catignani. Routledge; 1 edition (March 31, 2008).
This volume analyzes the conduct of the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) counter-insurgency operations during the two major Palestinian uprisings (1987-1993 and 2000-2005) in the Territories of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. It employs primary and secondary resources to produce a comprehensive analysis on whether or not the IDF has been able to adapt its conventional conduct of warfare to the realities of the Israeli-Palestinian low-intensity conflict and achieve any sort of victory over the Palestinian insurgents. Sergio Catignani provides new insights into how conventional armies struggle with contemporary insurgency by looking in particular at the strategic, operational, tactical and ethical dilemmas of the IDF over the last two decades. By examining the way in which the IDF and the Israeli security doctrine were formed and developed over time, he explores the extent to which Israeli security assumptions, civil-military relations, the organizational culture, command and control structure, and conduct of the IDF have affected its adaptation to the contemporary Israeli-Palestinian low-intensity conflict.  Israeli Counter-Insurgency and the Intifadas will be of much interest to students of low-intensity conflict and counter-insurgency, the Israeli army, the Middle Eastern conflict and strategic studies in general.  Information

Losing Iraq: Insurgency and Politics (Hardcover), by Stephen C. Pelletiere. Praeger Security International General Interest-Cloth (October 30, 2007).
The American efforts in Iraq are based, in rhetoric at least, on the premise of rebuilding a failed state. Pelletiere....rejects that view categorically and argues that if such delusion continues, the American people will never understand the events of the war, in particular why such a large number of Iraqis who are neither die-hard Ba'athists nor religious jihadis are so determined to resist American occupation. In trying to set the record straight, he describes the events of the initial invasion, the near complete failures of US intelligence about Iraq prior to the invasion and during the occupation, relations between expatriate Iraqis and native Iraqis, and the role of Iran in the occupation. Two of his major topics are perhaps most notable: the history of the Iraqi Army....and the true motivations for the American invasion, which he sees as part of an overall plan to preserve the Middle East client system of the Cold War.  Information

Regional Security in the Middle East: A Critical Perspective (RoutledgeCurzon Advances in Middle East & Islamic Studies) (Hardcover), by Pinar Bilgin. RoutledgeCurzon; 1 edition (November 4, 2004).
This is an accessible yet critical analysis of regional security in the Middle East. Using a non-realist approach, Bilgin provides a comprehensive study of the past, present and future of security in the region. She also considers the question of identity formation, explaining how and why various regional representations came into being and explores the consequences of a particular identity. Finally, the author presents alternative future scenarios and their implications including a critical security studies perspective on the future of the Middle East as a security community. Information

Religious Radicalism in the Greater Middle East (Cass Series on Political Violence, 4) (Hardcover), by Maddy-Weitzman. Routledge; 1 edition (January 1, 1997).
Since the mid-1970s, radical groups within the world's religions have grown in size and popularity, taking on more active roles in the political discourses of their respective societies. In the Middle East, this phenomenon has been most pronounced, as groups espousing such outlooks have engaged in comprehensive campaigns - sometimes involving the use of terrorism and other violent tactics - to alter the political systems of the states in which these organizations reside as well as in countries abroad. This collection is an insightful, well documented anthology which provides an in-depth political analysis of religious radicalism in the Greater Middle East - a recently defined area encompassing the Middle East, Central Asia and North Africa. The contributors, experts in their fields, present various conceptual perspectives within the framework of political science, including international relations, Middle East studies and political sociology. This work is not only topical and up to date but embodies in its fourteen portrait studies all the fundamental elements of the cultural geography and history of the Middle East.  Information

Vietnam, Jews and the Middle East: Unintended Consequences (Hardcover), by Judith A. Klinghoffer. Palgrave Macmillan (July 30, 1999).
This study demonstrates that the Six Day War, which transformed the Middle East, split the left and gave birth to Neo-conservatism, was an unintended consequence of the Vietnam War. In 1967 Moscow created a Middle Eastern crisis in response to Washington's escalation in Vietnam. America's Asian focus had left her Atlantic vulnerable to Soviet penetration. Israel refused to plant her flag in Saigon, American rabbis led the peace movement and the President threatened to withdraw his support from Israel. The Palestinians embarked on a Vietnamism-inspired "people's war," and Moscow interpreted Israeli retaliation as support for US policy in Vietnam. This Six Day War turned Israel into a Soviet nuclear target and transformed some liberals into Neo-conservatives.  Information

Weapons Proliferation and War in the Greater Middle East Strategic Contest (Cass Contemporary Security Studies) (Hardcover), by Richard L. Russell. Routledge; 1 edition (November 7, 2005).
This important new book explores the strategic reasons behind the proliferation of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons as well as ballistic missile delivery systems in the Greater Middle East. It examines the uses and limitations of chemical weapons in regional combat, ballistic missile warfare and defenses, as well as Iran's drive for nuclear weapons and the likely regional reactions should Tehran acquire a nuclear weapons inventory. The book also discusses Chinese assistance to WMD and ballistic programs in the Greater Middle East. Finally, the book recommends policy options for American diplomacy to counter the challenges posed by WMD proliferation. This essential study prepares the ground for the challenges facing the international community.  Information

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