The essential guide to geopolitics in the modern Middle East The Middle East is in crisis.
The shocking events of the war in Gaza have rocked the entire region. More than a decade ago
the Arab Spring had raised hopes of a new beginning but instead ushered in a series of civil
wars coups and even harsher autocracies. Tensions were exacerbated by the meddling of
outsiders as regional and global powers sought to further their interests. The United States
for so long the dominant actor had stepped back leaving a vacuum behind it to be fought over.
Christopher Phillips explores geopolitical rivalries in the region and the major external
powers vying for influence: Russia China the EU and the US. Moving through ten key
flashpoints from Syria to Palestine Phillips argues that the United States’ overextension
after the Cold War and retreat in the 2010s has imbalanced the region. Today the Middle East
remains blighted by conflicts of unprecedented violence and a post-American scramble for power
– leaving its fate in the balance.
