The word “Atlas” would usually call to mind a large‐format book dominated by maps in full colour, with a short explanatory text and gazetteer. Readers of this atlas, however, will find that in 278 pages of normal size, it has 86 maps, of which 33 are simple representations of individual countries, of a type to be found in several reference books; it is the text which predominates. The book is divided into five main sections: the general context of the Middle East in the world; its main geographical and historical features; the most significant aspects of these which affect its current problems (for instance, the uneven distribution of oil and water); articles on specific countries; and explanations of the most pressing current problems, notably those of Israel/Palestine, Iraq and Afghanistan.
While the details provided for individual countries usually occupy only three or four pages, much significance is packed into them by the use of indexes, mostly adapted from other sources which have attempted to attribute scores to important aspects of politics and economics. One of these, the “Freedom rating” is derived from handbook previously reviewed in these columns (Piano et al., 2006) (RR 2007/365). Alongside it appear, among others, a “Failed state index” and a “Human development index”. Some of these might have been easier to assess had they been repeated in a comparative general table. More conventional information includes facts and figures on geography, population, ethnic and religious groups, politics, economics, and trade, together with short summaries of recent events and the present state of the country (up to mid‐2009).
Information is provided in a similar but shorter form for countries adjacent to the Middle East. Curiously, in this section but not that for the Middle Eastern countries themselves, there appears a “Geopolitical index”, the significance of which seems not to be explained anywhere in the text.
The Atlas is provided with a bibliography of about 150 English‐language academic books, nearly all written since 2000 (are there no classic works still worth reading?). There is no mention of websites. The index contains a large number of undifferentiated references (for example, 60 under Israel) leaving one to wish that publishers were more willing to employ qualified indexers.
The sections devoted to different aspects of the region in general will give the reader much food for thought, and the reviewer can pick out only a few highlights. Even the introductory maps of geography and climate, for instance, show how the Southern Sudan stands out from the rest of the region, and makes it clear why it has been a subject of conflict. The simple statement that the region possesses two‐thirds of the world's oil reserves is enough to explain its prominence in international affairs, and the maps illustrating the location of these, and of the rare and heavily exploited water resources, reveal the origin of many of its political tensions, especially when we are told that its population has multiplied by ten times during the twentieth century. There are occasional omissions (for example, the historical account of ancient civilisations fails to make any mention of the Jews) and inconsistencies (the number of Israeli settlers in the West Bank is variously given as 187,000 and 280,000).
The concluding section on current problems is equally revealing. The authors are not afraid to criticise the aims of Western policy, which are stated to be security of oil supplies and support of Israel; but what if one interferes with the other? Or, if the West wishes to promote democracy, what should it do when democratic elections produce anti‐Western governments? What chance can foreign intervention have of solving the problems of a country like Afghanistan, with the lowest per capita income in the region, very little water, half of the GDP generated by opium, and beset by endemic ethnic conflict? The Atlas should be required reading for Western politicians, and not just for the undergraduate students of political science and Middle East studies mentioned on its cover.
