This is a general introduction to the Making of the Middle East series, providing the best general account of the recent political history of the major countries of the Middle East. It also provides a unique comparative treatment of central topics such as the growth of the state and the political response of Middle Eastern regimes to the economic crises of the 1970s and 1980s. Part One consists of a political history of the Arab countries, Iran and Turkey since the creation of the Middle East state system at the end of the First World War. Part Two is a detailed study of key themes, central to an understanding of recent developments: * the role of the military * the role of religious organisations * the politics of economic restructuring * the dynamics of one-party rule * the return to greater democracy.