This expanded paperback edition includes many new pages on topics that will deeply affect the Middle East and the course of a new American presidential administration. The new coverage offers fresh analysis of the U.S. troop surge, intensifying divisions among Palestinian factions, the deepening crisis in Lebanon, the National Intelligence Estimate’s report on weapons in Iran, and the effect of a new U.S. presidency on the Middle East.

When first published in 2006, this book became the most complete and up-to-date statement on Middle East politics from these two influential analysts. In this new paperback edition Chomsky and Achcar help us understand the latest developments in historical perspective. They take up all the key questions of interest to concerned citizens, including terrorism, fundamentalism, conspiracies, oil, democracy, self-determination, anti-Semitism, and anti-Arab racism, as well as the war in Afghanistan, the invasion and occupation of Iraq, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and the sources of U.S. foreign policy.

This book provides the best readable introduction for all who wish to understand the complex issues related to the Middle East from a perspective dedicated to peace and justice.

Noam Chomsky, M.I.T., is the author most recently of 9-11 (a national bestseller) and Middle East Illusions. His articles and books revolutionized the contemporary study of linguistics and his political essays are widely read and translated throughout the world. In 2003 a profile of Chomsky in The New Yorker described his influence as one of the most widely cited scholars in history.

Gilbert Achcar, who lived in Lebanon for many years before moving to France, now teaches politics and international relations at the University of Paris. He is the author of several books on contemporary politics and is a frequent contributor to Le Monde Diplomatique.

Stephen R. Shalom, author of the Preface, is a professor at William Paterson University.