Books & more: The new Near East

Sometimes we have the wrong idea. That's because we think of what we know. For example, our idea of a region like the "Middle East". We think we know which states are next to each other and what the order of things is.

But then historical events come along and mix everything up. Rulers like Gaddafi or Saddam Hussein disappear, others like Bashar al-Assad assert themselves. Seemingly functioning states become ruins - Iraq and Libya - borders collapse - between Syria and Iraq. A revolutionary movement turns a whole area upside down (less the artificial Arab Spring, more an Islamist revolution, for which the Arab Spring was just a preheater that satisfied the West's desires for democracy). Volker Perthes clearly shows how the Middle East is in motion and provides enlightening insights that slightly reduce our information deficit about what is happening and help us understand the geopolitics of the region.

Highly recommended, even if one has the impression that Perthes underestimates the Islamic State a bit.

“The End of the Middle East as We Know It: An Essay (edition suhrkamp)“ by Volker Perthes, Edition Suhrkamp, 144 pages, Euro 14,–