Book Reviews

Fall 2026 Book Reviews
Book Reviews
Desert Imaginations: A History of Saharanism and Its Radical Consequences
By Brahim El Guabli. Oakland, CA: University of California Press, 2025. 300 pp.; $95.00 (hardcover); $34.95 (paperback)

Book Review by Bruce Maddy-Weitzman
September 1, 2026
Book Reviews
Enduring Hostility: The Making of America’s Iran Policy
By Dalia Dassa Kaye. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2025. 236 pp.; $60.00 (hardcover)

Book Review by Sophie Baron
September 1, 2026
Book Reviews
The Most American King: Abdullah of Jordan
By Aaron Magid. Irvine & Boca Raton: Universal Publishers, 2025. 254 pp.; $29.95 (paperback); $9.99 (Kindle)

Book Review by Asher Susser
September 1, 2026
Book Reviews
From Life Itself: Turkey, Istanbul, and a Neighborhood in the Age of Erdoğan
By Suzy Hansen. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2026. 368 pp. $30.00 (hardcover)

Book Review by Robert Ellis
September 1, 2026
Book Reviews
The New Age of Genocide: Intellectual and Political Challenges After Gaza
By Martin Shaw. Newcastle upon Tyne: Agenda Publishing, 2025. 224 pp.; $110 (hardcover); $29.95 (paperback).

Book Review by A. J. Caschetta
September 1, 2026
Book Reviews
No Compulsion in Religion—No Exceptions: Islamic Arguments for Religious Freedom.
Edited by Mustafa Akyol. Washington, DC: Cato Institute, 2026. 184 pp.; $24.95 (hardcover).

Review by Dexter Van Zile
September 1, 2026
Book Reviews
Israel on Trial: Examining the History, the Evidence, and the Law.
By Roy K. Altman. Charleston, S.C.: Advantage Books, 2026, 304 pp.; $32.00 (hardcover), $9.99 (Kindle).

Reviewed by Judith Friedman Rosen
September 1, 2026
Book Reviews
Beyond Dialogue: Building Bonds Between Christians and Muslims
By Craig Considine. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press, 2025. 256 pp.; $69.95 (hardback); $24.95 (paperback)

Book Review by Mark Durie
September 1, 2026
Book Reviews
Saudi Arabia: A Modern History
By David Commins. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2025. 384 pp.; $28.99 (hardcover); $16.99 (Kindle)

Book Review by Jacob Goldberg
September 1, 2026
Book Reviews
A Daring Enterprise: A U.S.-Egyptian Partnership and the Case for Soft Power
By James A. Harmon, Cornelius Queen, and Mark Warren. Cairo: The American University in Cairo Press, 2026. 240 pp.; $35.00 (hardcover)

Book Review by Patrick Clawson
September 1, 2026
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Middle East Forum Observer
Will the Armenia-Azerbaijan Peace Be the Latest to Come Undone?
Aliyev’s Rhetoric of Armenia as ‘West Azerbaijan’ Suggests Peace Is Not His Goal and He Is Playing Trump for a Fool
October 11, 2026
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Michael Rubin
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Middle East Forum Observer
Turkey’s Deepening Somalia Partnership Has Political Limits
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October 10, 2026
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Nicoletta Kouroushi
Middle East Forum Observer
Who Inherits Terrorist Properties Upon Their Military Defeat?
Authorities Must Establish Ownership, Settle Competing Claims, and Decide What to Do with Assets
October 10, 2026
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Mohammad Taha Ali
Geopolitical reality completely dismantles Washington’s outdated policy framework. Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar’s Libyan National Army firmly commands the east, the strategic south, and the critical Sirte Basin oil fields. This territorial control translates to real economic leverage: hydrocarbon production recently peaked near 1.5 million barrels per day, channeling billions into regional development. Today, Benghazi showcases this growing strength through expanding deep-water ports and a massive new airport designed for 15 million annual passengers.
Middle East Forum Online
Stop Bowing to Tripoli’s Ghosts: Why Trump Must Bring Cyrenaica Into the Abraham Accords
Despite Offering Nothing but Absolute Instability, Tripoli Continues to Hold Libya’s U.N. Seat
October 9, 2026
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Middle East Forum Online
The Color of Antisemitic Madness
The British Greens Have Officially Adopted the Destruction of Israel as a Policy Goal
October 9, 2026
 · 
Giulio Meotti
The danger is that the political system built around Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi (above) produces a succession crisis in which the next Egyptian leadership inherits the military capability, public anger, and strategic geography of today's Egypt, but not necessarily today's relationship with Israel.
Middle East Forum Online
October 7 Taught Israel a Brutal Lesson; Egypt Is the Next Test
Israel Must Prepare for Risks from Egypt’s Military Power and Political Uncertainty
October 9, 2026
 · 
Amine Ayoub
Despite a lengthy record of organized crime allegations, Uzun has maintained access to influential figures in Erdoğan’s political orbit, law enforcement and the judiciary, while surviving investigations that would ordinarily pose an existential threat to a man accused by Turkish police of managing an armed criminal organization.
Middle East Forum Online
Turkish President Erdoğan’s Government Appears to Have Enabled the Rise of the New Alleged Mafia Powerbroker
Ali Ugur Uzun’s Rise Exposes Turkey’s Deepening State-Mafia Nexus
October 9, 2026
 · 
Abdullah Bozkurt
European Parliament in Strasbourg expels FEMYSO, the Muslim Brotherhood-linked youth network, after 33 MEPs warned of its Islamist ties and threat to European values.
FWI News
European Parliament Adopts Landmark Resolution Targeting Islamist Infiltration
Parliamentarians Move to Curb Muslim Brotherhood Influence After Landslide Vote
October 9, 2026
 · 
Jules Gomes
The Syrian army secured dozens of villages in the Northeast after the withdrawal of Kurdish fighters from Syrian Democratic Forces.
Middle East Forum Observer
Kurdish-Arab Tensions in Syria Are Not Going Away
Syrian Kurds Demand Meaningful Autonomy in Their Region, Especially as Arabs Challenge Their Claims for Equality
October 9, 2026
 · 
Sirwan Kajjo
Three years ago this month, Hamas killed some 1200 people in the south of Israel, most of them civilians, in their homes, at a music festival, and on the roads in the border communities of Israel. They also took with them 251 people as hostages.
Middle East Forum Online
A World of Hurt: The Middle East Three Years After October 7
Three Years After the Start of This War, the Middle East Is a Dysfunctional Region That Is Further from a Stable and Peaceful Future than It Has Been for Generations
October 8, 2026
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Hussein Aboubakr Mansour