The Gulf War is the most recent in a long series of confrontations in the Middle East that have made this area one of the most politically sensitive and complex in global politics. This book presents a comprehensive survey of the recent political history of the Arab world and its neighbours, including Turkey, Iran and Israel, from the treaty settlements at the end of World War I to the present day. Each nation is dealt with individually and indepth. Further chapters deal with broad themes such as migration, the Arab/Israeli conflict, the politics of oil, the Kurds and the Palestinian question.