Explaining Middle East Insecurity

The Middle East faces an increasingly complex and fragile security situation. The region (defined by authors Swain and Jägerskog to include all Arab countries in Asia, plus Egypt and Occupied Palestine — though I personally might also add Iran and Anatolia) suffers from strained water supplies and limited arable land, along with increasing populations, stagnant agriculture and lacking food supplies. Another issue is large-scale labor migration, along with the huge numbers of forced migrants and refugees coming from the region (not to mention millions of internally displaced persons). The book analyzes such emerging challenges comprehensively and systematically, looking at these Middle East issues from a security perspective, as well as their global context. Security is increasingly on people’s minds after the Western reaction to the September 11 attacks on the United States exacerbated violence across many parts of West Asia and North Africa, of which the Middle East is the