The Middle East and Palestine Global Politics and Regional Conflict

Taking issue with the convenient views that the Middle East is an irrational and exceptional region of world politics and that the long and bloody history of the Palestine conflict is proof, the authors of this stimulating collection combine theoretical reflection and empirical investigation, marrying International Relations theory and Middle East studies. Through integrating macro- and micro-perspectives, tracing the interaction of global and regional environments with individuals pursuing political goals, this book rejects the cultural stereotype of "Middle Eastern exceptionalism" and argues that regional patterns of conflict are deeply embedded in international and transnational relations and that their particular trajectories have to be interpreted in the light of global political developments.

Dietrich Jung is Senior Research Fellow, Danish Institute for International Studies, Copenhagen.

Global Conditions and Global Constraints: The International Paternity of the Palestine Conflict--Dietrich Jung * Part I. Global Discourses and Regional Politics * Culture Blind and Culture Blinded: Images of Middle Eastern Conflicts in International Relations--Morten Valbjorn * Re-interpreting History: Perceptions of Nazism in Egyptian Media Discourses--Gotz Nordbruch * Internationalization of Anti-Islamist Discourse and Creation of a Regional Anti-Terrorism Mechanism: The Initiative of Mubarak's Egypt--Jeong-Min Seo * Part II. Global Schemes and Local Realities: Transnational Islam and the Palestinian Refugee Problem * Official Islam, Transnational Islam, and Regional Politics: The Case of Syria--Annabelle Botcher * Religious Mobilizations in Palestinian Refugee Camps in Lebanon: The Case of Ain el-Helweh--Bernard Rougier * Resolving the Palestinian Refugee Problem Today: E.A. Norman's Unintended Contribution--Dan Tschirgi * Epilogue * September 11-Arab Reactions--Walid Kazziha