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
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan with U.S. President Donald Trump at a September 30, 2025, meeting on Middle East issues at the United Nations Headquarters in New York.
Middle East Forum Observer
The Architecture of Turkey’s Anti-Americanism
Erdoğan’s Turkey Is Using the Hegemon’s Tools to Build the Machine That Will One Day Render the Hegemon Irrelevant
June 29, 2026
 · 
Gregg Roman
Iran believes it has won the war by asserting its control over the Strait of Hormuz.
Middle East Forum Observer
Can Iran Really Impose Tolls on Strait of Hormuz Passage?
Tehran Cannot Legally Redefine Freedom of Navigation Through International Waters
June 29, 2026
 · 
Umud Shokri
Baghdad, Iraq.
Middle East Forum Observer
How Tehran Weaponizes Iraq’s Diplomatic Apparatus
Iran’s Influence Is No Longer Operating Merely Alongside the Iraqi State, but Increasingly Through It
June 29, 2026
 · 
Ali Almrayatee
Abdel Fattah al-Sisi
Middle East Forum Observer
Is Tehran Buying Egyptian Influence to Expand Iranian Reach into Libya?
Geography Alone Makes Egypt Indispensable to Any Sustained Effort to Project Influence Westward Across North Africa
June 28, 2026
 · 
Ali Almrayatee
Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Janša.
Middle East Forum Observer
Can Israel Partner with Slovenia to Counter Iran’s Influence in Europe?
Israel’s Window to Convert a Tactical Opening Into a Structural Advantage Is Measured in Perhaps Only Months
June 28, 2026
 · 
Jose Lev Alvarez
An Israel Defense Forces M109 artillery cannon.
Middle East Forum Observer
Israel Seeks to Fill Defense Production Shortfalls Exposed by War
Democracies Increasingly Recognize That Global Supply Chains Are Liabilities During Prolonged Conflicts
June 27, 2026
 · 
Aaron J. Shuster
Secretary Marco Rubio meets with Foreign Ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council Member States in Manama, Bahrain, June 25, 2026. (Official State Department photo by Freddie Everett)
Middle East Forum Online
The United States Lost Both the War and the Negotiation
America Didn’t Achieve a Single One of Its Aims in Iran
June 26, 2026
 · 
Saeid Golkar
An F-35C Lightning II, attached to Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 314, launches from the flight deck of Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) in support of Operation Epic Fury, March 4, 2026. (U.S. Navy photo)
Middle East Forum Online
The Iran-Israel War: A Perspective from Iran
An Interview with a Contact Who Resides in the Iranian City of Qom
June 26, 2026
 · 
Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi
Israel’s new Alumot unit is designed to move artificial-intelligence tools directly from development to frontline forces while Washington debates how deeply to institutionalize U.S.-Israel defense-technology cooperation.
Middle East Forum Online
The U.S. Can Debate AI Integration; Israel Has Already Operationalized It
Israel’s Alumot Unit Turns Battlefield AI From Research Into Real-Time Combat Capability
June 26, 2026
 · 
Amine Ayoub
U.S. and Kenyan defense officials at the construction site for a runway expansion and airfield infrastructure project in January 2026, at Manda Bay, Kenya.
Middle East Forum Observer
Will Kenya Supplant Djibouti as the Pentagon’s Counter-Terror Hub?
Washington Is Expanding Its Military Footprint with a $71 Million Overhaul of the Manda Bay Airfield in Kenya
June 26, 2026
 · 
Siyad Madey