Putin's war in Syria

Russian foreign policy and the price of America's absence

"Skillfully lays out Mr. Putin's approach to the Middle East." Wall Street Journal "Detailed and fascinating." Diplomatic Courier Putin intervened in Syria in September 2015, with international critics predicting that Russia would overextend itself and Barack Obama suggesting the country would find itself in ...

The Sultan's fleet

seafarers of the Ottoman empire

While the Ottoman Empire is most often recognized today as a land power, for four centuries the seas of the Eastern Mediterranean were dominated by the Ottoman Navy. Yet to date, little is known about the seafarers who made up the sultans' fleet, the men ...

A sultan in autumn

Erdogan faces Turkey's uncontainable forces

"Informative." - Foreign Affairs Recep Tayyip Erdogan has ruled Turkey for nearly two decades. Here, Soner Cagaptay, a leading authority on the country, offers insights on the next phase of Erdogan's rule. His dwindling support base at home, coupled with rising opposition, the impact of ...

Vision or mirage

Saudi Arabia at the crossroads

Something extraordinary is happening in Saudi Arabia. A traditional, tribal society once known for its lack of tolerance is rapidly implementing significant economic and social reforms. An army of foreign consultants is rewriting the social contract, King Salman has cracked down hard on corruption, and ...

State-building in the Middle East and North Africa

one hundred years of nationalism, religion and politics

Why have state-building projects across the MENA region proven to be so difficult for so long? Following the end of the Ottoman Empire in the early 1920s, the countries of the region began a violent and divisive process of state formation. But a century later ...

The Ottoman and Mughal Empires

Social History in the Early Modern World

For many years, Ottomanist historians have been accustomed to study the Ottoman Empire and/or its constituent regions as entities insulated from the outside world, except when it came to 'campaigns and conquests' on the one hand, and 'incorporation into the European-dominated world economy' on ...

Greek Democracy and the Junta

Regime Crisis and the Failed Transition of 1973

During the dictatorship of the Colonels in Greece, there was an attempt at self-transformation into some form of civilian rule in 1973: the so-called 'Markezinis experiment', named after the politician who assumed the task of heading the transition government and lead to elections. It lasted ...

Russia rising

Putin's foreign policy in the Middle East and North Africa

The war in Syria has put Russia at the centre of Middle Eastern politics. Moscow's return to the region following a prolonged period of absence has enhanced its geopolitical status and it has emerged as a rival to the West. Yet, contrary to the ...

Islam in China

In China there are up to 25 million Muslims living in the country, representing over 1200 years of Chinese-Islamic relations. However, little is known about the historical and contemporary geopolitical relations between China and the Muslim world, or the situation for the diverse groups of ...

China

a modern history

In this complete guide to modern China, Michael Dillon takes students through its social, political and economic changes, from the Qing Empire, through the civil war and the Communist state, to its incarnation as a hybrid capitalist superpower. Key features of the new edition include ...

Jewish Morocco

A History from Pre-Islamic to Postcolonial Times

The history of Morocco cannot effectively be told without the history of its Jewish inhabitants. Their presence in Northwest Africa pre-dates the rise of Islam and continues to the present day, combining elements of Berber (Amazigh), Arab, Sephardi and European culture. Emily Gottreich examines the ...

Arab conquests and early Islamic historiography

the Futuh al-Buldan of al-Baladhuri

Winner of the 2021 Southeast Regional Middle East and Islamic Studies Society Book Prize Of the available sources for Islamic history between the seventh and eighth centuries CE, few are of greater importance than al-Baladhuri's Kitab Futuh al-buldan (The Book of the Conquest of ...

New perspectives on Diplomacy

contemporary diplomacy in action

Effective diplomacy remains fundamental to the conduct of international relations in the twenty-first century, as we seek to define and manage a challenging new world order peacefully. New Perspectives on Diplomacy highlights the importance of diplomacy in political and military crises, featuring details of life ...

The Nile

history's greatest river

The greatest river in the world has a long and fascinating history. Professor Terje Tvedt, one of the world's leading experts on the history of waterways, travels upstream along the river's mouth to its sources. The result is a travelogue through 5000 years ...

The Prophet Muhammad

Islam and the divine message

Prophets serve as intermediaries between the human and divine worlds, granting them a special status in history across diverse religions and cultures. For Muslims, the Prophet Muhammad (570–632 CE) represents the culmination of the line of monotheistic prophets, including Abraham, Moses and Jesus. In ...

Nuclear Iran

the birth of an atomic state

The Iranian nuclear crisis has dominated world politics since the beginning of the century, with the country now facing increasing diplomatic isolation, talk of military strikes against its nuclear facilities and a disastrous Middle East war. What is Iran's nuclear programme all about? What ...

Erdogan's empire

Turkey and the politics of the Middle East

Gradually since 2003, Turkey's autocratic leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan has sought to make Turkey a great power -- in the tradition of past Turkish leaders from the late Ottoman sultans to Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey. Here the leading authority Soner Cagaptay, author of ...

New perspectives on Diplomacy

a new theory and practice of Diplomacy

Effective diplomacy remains fundamental to the conduct of international relations in the twenty-first century, as we seek to define and manage a challenging new world order peacefully. New Perspectives on Diplomacy examines the implications of the shifting international landscape upon how states interact with one ...

The Eastern Frontier

limits of empire in Late Antique and Early Medieval Central Asia

Transoxania, Khurasan, and Tukharistan - which comprise large parts of today's Central Asia - have long been an important frontier zone. In the late antique and early medieval periods, the region was both an eastern political boundary for Persian and Islamic empires and a cultural border ...

Beyond Brexit

towards a British Constitution

Brexit means exit, but what exactly will we be leaving behind? Entry into the European Community in 1973 was a momentous event – one which had seismic effects on the politics and constitution of Britain. Brexit, while equally as momentous, has almost wholly been confined to ...