Book Reviews

Summer 2026 Book Reviews
Book Reviews
The War That Made the Middle East: World War I and the End of the Ottoman Empire
By Mustafa Aksakal. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2026. 264 pp.; $26.66 (hardcover); $17.60 (Kindle)

Book Review by Efraim Karsh
June 1, 2026
Book Reviews
Late Ottoman Gaza: An Eastern Mediterranean Hub in Transformation
By Yuval Ben-Bassat and Johann Büssow. London: Cambridge University Press, 2024. 206 pp.; $88.36 (hardcover); $110 (e-book)

Book Review by Donna Robinson Divine

June 1, 2026
Book Reviews
Syria, Revolt and War in the Digital Age. Edited by Cécile Boëx and Agnès Devictor
Translated by Jane Kuntz. Cairo: American University in Cairo Press, 2025. 282 pp.; $89.95 (hardcover)

Book Review by Daniel Pipes
June 1, 2026
Book Reviews
Islam, Israel and the West: A Former Muslim’s Analysis
By Danny Burmawi. N.P.: Gerasa Books, 2025. 252 pp.; $19.99 (hardcover); $16.99 (paperback); $9.99 (Kindle)

Book Review by Dexter Van Zile
June 1, 2026
Book Reviews
Syria: Civil War to Holy War?
By Charles Glass. New York: OR Books, 2025. 294 pp.; $17.01 (paperback); $9.99 (Kindle)

Book Review by Jonathan Spyer
June 1, 2026
Book Reviews
Israel Under Netanyahu: Populism and Democratic Decline
By Neta Oren. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 2025. 169 pp.; $95 (hardcover); $95 (e-book)

Book Review by Martin Sherman
June 1, 2026
Book Reviews
Frequencies of Deceit: How Global Propaganda Wars Shaped the Middle East
By Margaret Peacock. Oakland, CA: University of California Press, 2025. 326 pp.; $82.75 (hardcover); $29.95 (paperback); $28.45 (Kindle)

Reviewed by Jeffrey Herf
June 1, 2026
Book Reviews
Call at 4 AM: Thirteen Prime Ministers and the Crucial Decisions that Shaped Israeli Politics
By Amit Segal. New York: Wicked Son, 2025. 248 pp.; $23.41 (hardcover); $14.99 (Kindle)

Reviewed by Alex Selsky
June 1, 2026
Book Reviews
Hostage
By Eli Sharabi. Translated by Eylon Levy. New York: Harper Influence, 2025. 208 pp.; $20.74 (hardcover); $14.99 (Kindle)

Book Review by A. J. Caschetta
June 1, 2026
More from MEF
Press Releases
Mosques Campaigned for El-Sayed From the Pulpit, MEF Report Finds
Forum Calls on IRS, FEC, State and Local Election Authorities, and Congress to Examine Tax-Exempt Groups Named in the Report, Several With Ties to Iran, Türkiye, or the Muslim Brotherhood
September 27, 2026
While Western navies expend high-cost interceptors to defend commercial shipping, China is positioning itself as an increasingly permanent security actor across African and Middle Eastern waters. This strategy rests on a clear three-part foundation: intelligence infrastructure, operational military exercises coupled with high-level diplomacy, and expanding regional defense ties.
Middle East Forum Online
China Is Turning the Red Sea Into a New Security Front
Beijing Is Transforming Its Commercial Footprint Into a Consequential Intelligence and Military Architecture
September 27, 2026
 · 
Amine Ayoub
The PDKI (Democratic party of Iranian Kurdistan) is the most long-standing of the Iranian Kurdish groups, tracing its lineage back to the leadership of the short-lived Republic of Kurdistan established on Iranian soil in 1946.
Middle East Forum Observer
Kurds Are Key to Tightening the Economic Noose on Iran
Iranian Kurds Can Help the United States Win, but They Will Not Do So on Promises Alone
September 27, 2026
 · 
Michael Rubin
Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey signed the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement on August 7, 2026.
Middle East Forum Observer
Pakistan Puts a Counter-Terrorism General at the Helm of the Mecca Defense Alliance
Nauman Mahmood Spent Much of His Military Career Confronting Organizations That Employ Asymmetric Warfare
September 27, 2026
 · 
Kaswar Klasra
Chinese President Xi Jinping welcomes Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to the BRICS summit in October 2024.
Middle East Forum Observer
China’s Long Game in the Middle East
While Beijing Frequently Speaks the Language of Diplomacy, It Expands Infrastructure That Gives It Leverage in the Region
September 26, 2026
 · 
Imran Khurshid
A busy market area of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, at mid-day.
Middle East Forum Observer
Prioritizing Citizen Employment in the Gulf Arab States Creates Jobs, but Does Not Replace Migrant Labor
Despite Nationalization Policies, in Many Gulf Arab States Expatriates Perform Most Jobs That Sustain the Economy
September 26, 2026
 · 
Radhika Lakshminarayanan
Judith Butler, Distinguished Professor in the Graduate School and formerly the Maxine Elliot Chair in the Department of Comparative Literature and the Program of Critical Theory at the University of California, Berkeley; in Madrid, Oct. 26, 2022.
Middle East Forum Online
Berkeley’s Judith Butler, Who Called Oct. 7 ‘An Act of Armed Resistance,’ Lectures Italians on ‘Gender’
September 25, 2026
 · 
Giulio Meotti
President Donald Trump with Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the White House.
Middle East Forum Observer
The Choices Saudi Arabia Must Now Make
Bin Salman Should Realize That the Key to Security in Saudi Arabia Rests in Riyadh and in His Strategies
September 25, 2026
 · 
Michael Rubin
Ehsan Khandouzi, Iran's minister of economics.
Middle East Forum Observer
Who’s Behind the Appointment of Iran’s Incompetent Economics Chief?
Ehsan Khandouzi Has Qualities That May Matter More in Tehran than an Ability to Understand Economics
September 25, 2026
 · 
Potkin Azarmehr
Aden, a port city, was the capital in South Yemen.
Middle East Forum Observer
Saudi Stability and Freedom of Navigation Require South Yemen’s Reemergence
Southerners Are Seeking to Dissolve a Union That Has Failed for More than Three Decades
September 25, 2026
 · 
Khaled Alyemany