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Power and Stability in the Middle East

by Berch Berberoğlu
London: Zed Books, 1989. 206 pp. $55 (paper, $15)

Reviewed by Daniel Pipes
Choice
June 1990

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The editor hopes that his book "will provide a new impetus in Middle East studies" by offering a "class-oriented approach" that emphasizes the role of the state and of international actors. The ten chapters he has assembled cover one region (North Africa), six countries (Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iraq, Iran), two irredentist movements (the Palestinians and Armenians), and one special population group (women).

Most of the contributors argue that unresolved class interests will come back to haunt the authoritarian rulers of the Middle East. Unfortunately (with the partial exception of David Seddon's chapter on North Africa), the contents of this book offer very little original research; to make matters worse, the conclusions appear to be driven more by Marxist presuppositions than by the historical record. This makes the book entirely unsuitable for students.

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