Between memory and desire : the Middle East in a troubled age / R. Stephen Humphreys.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 289-292) and index.

1. Hard Realities: Population Growth and Economic Stagnation -- 2. From Imperialism to the New World Order: The Middle East in Search of a Future -- 3. The Strange Career of Pan-Arabism -- 4. The Shaping of Foreign Policy: The Myth of the Middle East Madman -- 5. Military Dictatorship and Political Tradition in the Middle East -- 6. Profane and Sacred Politics: The Ends of Power in the Middle East -- 7. Islam as a Political System -- 8. Jihad and the Politics of Salvation -- 9. Women in Public Life: Islamic Perspectives, Middle Eastern Realities -- 10. Islam and Human Rights -- Toward a Conclusion - Between Memory and Desire.

R. Stephen Humphreys's new book presents a much-needed and thoughtful analysis of Islam's place in today's Middle East. In clear, accessible language, he examines both the medieval and modern history of the region to show the interweaving of the sacred and secular in its political and intellectual life.

Between Memory and Desire reminds us how Middle Easterners remember the past: the colonial era as a time of shame, the post-independence period as disappointing, and the Middle Ages as glorious. Driven by these memories, they struggle to liberate themselves from that past and to seize what they view as rightfully theirs.