1st Edition

The Geopolitics of the Middle East

By various Copyright 2006
    426 Pages
    by Routledge

    Complete set

    Since 1961 the Adelphi Papers have provided some of the most informed accounts of international and strategic relations. Produced by the world renowned International Institute of Strategic Studies, each paper provides a short account of a subject of topical interest by a leading military figure, policy maker or academic. The project reprints the first forty years of papers, arranged into thematic sets.

    The collection as a whole provides a rich and insightful account of international affairs during a period which spans the second half of the Cold War, the fall of the communist bloc and the emergence of a new regime with the United States as the sole superpower.

    There is a wealth of global coverage:

    • Four volumes on east and southeast Asia as well as individual volumes on China, Japan and Korea
    • Particular attention is given to the Middle East, with volumes addressing internal sources of instability; geo-politics and the role of the superpowers; the Israel-Palestine conflict; and the Iran-Iraq War and the first Gulf War. There is also a volume on oil and insecurity
    • There are also two volumes on Africa, the site of most of the world’s wars during the period.

    The IISS has obviously made a particular contribution to the understanding of military strategy, and this is reflected with material on topics such as urban and guerrilla warfare, nuclear deterrence and the role of information in modern warfare. Volumes on military strategy are complemented by approaches from other disciplines, such as defence economics.

    Key selling points:

    • Early papers were only distributed by the IISS and will have achieved limited penetration of the academic market
    • A host of major authors on a range of different subjects (eg Gerald Segal on China, Michael Leifer on Southeast Asia, Sir Lawrence Freidman on the revolution in military affairs, Raymond Vernon on multinationals and defence economics)
    • Individual volumes will have a strong appeal to different markets (eg the volume on defence economics for economists, various volumes for Asian Studies etc)

    1. The Middle East and the Arab World: The Military Context David Wood  2. Sources of Conflict in the Middle East  3. The Soviet Dilemma in the Middle East. Part 1: Problems of Commitment Robert E. Hunter  4. The Soviet Dilemma in the Middle East. Part 2: Oil and the Persian Gulf Robert E. Hunter  5. The Middle East and the International System. Part 1: The Impact of the 1973 War Papers from the IISS 16th Annual Conference  6. The Middle East and the International System. Part 2: Security and the Energy Crisis Papers from the IISS 16th Annual Conference  7. The Role of Arms Control in the Middle East Yair Evron  8. Soviet Policy Towards Iran and the Gulf Shahram Chubin  9. The Transatlantic Allies and the Changing Middle East Philip H. Gordon