INTRODUCTION xviimuch of the rest of the region. Once the center of a mighty Persian Empire, Iran spent
much of the twentieth century almost as a vassal state to outside powers, only to rise
in importance after 1979 because of the powerful ideas generated by its Islamic revo-
lution. Iraq and Lebanon share similar histories as neocolonial creations in which dis-
parate ethnic and religious groups found themselves as part of nation-states with arti-
ficial boundaries. Iraq for nearly three decades has been at the center of much of the
region’s turbulence, while Lebanon would seem to have “Intervene Here” signs posted
on the borders with its neighbors. Turkey is included here because its unique history
as the center of the Ottoman Empire so intimately intertwines it with the rest of the
region, and its attempts at modernization of an Islamic society have been echoed, with
varying success, elsewhere. What happens in each of these countries continues to be
of regional and potentially global importance.
It is difficult to be optimistic about the near-term future of most of the countries
covered here. Iran, Israel, the Palestinian territories, Lebanon, and Turkey all face seri-
ous internal political challenges arising from historic disputes as well as differing visions
for the future. The Palestinian territories are experiencing yet another period of intense
upheaval, one resulting as much from internal stresses as from the long-term conflict
with Israel. The Western-backed governments of Afghanistan and Iraq are fighting for
their lives against insurgencies that use classic guerrilla techniques as well as the tools
of terrorism (notably suicide bombs) that in recent years have become hallmarks of
civil conflict in the region. Predicting the future in the Middle East is risky business,
but if the past is any guide, one prediction is almost a certainty: the production of
more documents offering the peace and prosperity that many of those in this book
also promised but failed to deliver.