The Middle East

"Written by a group of well-known experts and researchers who have diligently worked, and updated the book since its first edition to include the most important features of State, Polity, and Governance in Middle East and North Africa… This book is equally useful for instructors and students."
―Jalil Roshandel, East Carolina University

In the more succinct Fifteenth Edition of The Middle East, editor Ellen Lust brings important new coverage to this comprehensive, balanced, and superbly researched text. In clear prose, Lust and her contributors explain the many complex changes taking place across the region. All country profile chapters now address domestic and regional conflict more explicitly and all tables, figures, boxes, and maps have been fully updated with the most recent data and information. This best-selling text not only helps readers comprehend more fully the world around them, but it also enables readers to recognize and formulate policies that can more successfully engage the Middle East.


Give your students the SAGE edge!
SAGE edge offers a robust online environment featuring an impressive array of free tools and resources for review, study, and further exploration, keeping both instructors and students on the cutting edge of teaching and learning.

Ellen Lust is a Professor in the Department of Political Science and the Founder and Director of the Program on Governance and Local Development at the University of Gothenburg. She received her M.A. in Modern Middle East and North African Studies (1993) and PhD in Political Science (1997) from the University of Michigan. She has conducted research and engaged in policy dialogue across the Middle East, including Egypt, Jordan, Libya, Malawi, Morocco, Palestine, Syria, and Tunisia, as well as in Sub-Saharan Africa. She has served as an advisor and consultant to such organizations as the UNDP, UN Democracy Fund, The World Bank, USAID, Carter Center, Freedom House, and NDI. Ellen has authored numerous books and articles, including Structuring Contestation in the Arab World (Cambridge University Press, 2005); Political Participation in the Middle East and North Africa (Lynne Rienner Press, 2008), co-edited with Saloua Zerhouni; Taking to the Streets: Activism and the Arab Uprisings (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2014), co-edited with Lina Khatib and Trust, Voice and Incentives: Learning from Local Successes in Service Delivery in the Middle East and North Africa (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2015) in collaboration with Hana Brixi and Michael Woolcock. Her research has been supported by foundations such as the Moulay Hicham Foundation, National Science Foundation, Social Science Research Council, FORMAS and the Swedish Research Council. (See gld.gu.se for further information.)