The Middle East and North Africa: A Contemporary Geography

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This contemporary textthe first in over a decade on the regionpresents the geography of the Middle East and North Africa, defined as the Arab World, Israel, Turkey, Iran, and Afghanistan. Thematically organized, the books eleven chapters focus on the regions physical and climatic setting, demographic characteristics, migration patterns, religious and linguistic diversity, political map, offshore claims, oil and gas resources, and subregions and states.

Within this framework, Drysdale emphasizes pressing current problems: the impact of climate change in a region where some areas already suffer from extreme summer heat and aridity, the challenge of providing additional water in a region where per capita availability of freshwater is already the lowest in the world, the impact of high fertility and rapid population growth in a fragile environment where economies are often unable to absorb young workers entering the labor force, the looming prospect of an aging population, the effects of out- and in-migration, the diverse impact and role of Islam in daily and public life, the integrative consequences of linguistic and ethnic diversity, the evolution and imperfections of the political map, ongoing territorial and boundary disputes that often have global repercussions, external dependence on the regions prolific oil and gas resources, and the extreme regional inequalities associated with their presence or absence. This timely and insightful analysis is essential reading for students of the region who need a better understanding of key regional characteristics, challenges, and issues.

Reviews

Drysdales comprehensive textbook is an outstanding work of scholarship, essential reading for anyone studying or interested in the Middle East. -- Peter B. Golden, Professor Emeritus, Rutgers University
This superb book is the definitive geographical study of the MENA region. In accessible and engaging prose, Drysdale sweeps away the ignorance, fear, and prejudice associated with this wondrous and complex realm, offering instead a clear-sighted panorama of its land and life. -- Joseph Hobbs, University of Missouri
This is an important book, covering the geography of a region which has undergone significant social, economic, and political changes during the past three decades, since the last texts were published. Focusing on the internal domestic changes and the ways in which this has impacted the wider geopolitical impact of the region in global politics is long overdue. Drysdales long term interest in this region makes him a most appropriate analyst of these changes and he has produced a book which will be of great interest to scholar and student alike. -- David Newman, former Editor, International Journal of Geopolitics; Emeritus Professor of Geopolitics, Ben-Gurion University
In this engaging and richly illustrated textbook Alasdair Drysdale offers an informed and nuanced presentation of the Middle East and North Africa, striking a compelling balance between commonalities and differences. The author also provides pedagogical introductions to key concepts in the thematical chapters (region, physical environment, water, population, migration, religion, language, political map, economy, petroleum) while the concluding chapter offers insightful summarizing state portraits. This much needed introduction, written in the first place for American students, is therefore both accessible and thorough. Beyond US universities and beyond area studies and the discipline of geography, this book is an essential resource for all those who wish to study this region and its diversity. -- Virginie Mamadouh, University of Amsterdam, and Editor of The Arab World Geographer
Drysdale presents a multi-dimensional study of the Middle East as a major world region, showing how it is both regionally distinctive and an important part of contemporary globalization processes. His analyses of physical, socio-cultural, and religious geography are comprehensive and provide important insights that are valuable for both specialists and general readers. -- John Voll, Professor Emeritus, Georgetown University

Author Bio

Alasdair Drysdale is the co-author of The Middle East and North Africa: A Political Geography and Syria and the Middle East Peace Process and the author of numerous book chapters, journal articles, and encyclopedia entries on the region. The winner of the Lindberg Prize for Outstanding Teaching at the University of New Hampshire, he has taught a course on the Middle East and North Africa for over forty years. He has been invited to offer testimony at hearings on the Middle East before a US Congressional subcommittee on Foreign Affairs and served on the editorial board of Arab World Geographer.