Eastern Mediterranean

In this groundbreaking book, Ilham Khuri-Makdisi establishes the existence of a special radical trajectory spanning four continents and linking Beirut, Cairo, and Alexandria between 1860 and 1914. She shows that socialist and anarchist ideas were regularly discussed, disseminated, and reworked among intellectuals, workers, dramatists, Egyptians, Ottoman Syrians, ethnic Italians, Greeks, and many others in these cities. In situating the Middle East within the context of world history, Khuri-Makdisi challenges nationalist and elite narratives of Mediterranean and Middle Eastern history as well as Eurocentric ideas about global radical movements. The book demonstrates that these radical trajectories played a fundamental role in shaping societies throughout the world and offers a powerful rethinking of Ottoman intellectual and social history.

A fascinating history of nineteenth century Eastern Mediterranean port cities, re-examining European influence over the changing lives of their urban populations.

The wider region of the Eastern Mediterranean is in transition. What is being evinced is a situation of continuous volatility, centering on developments such as the ’Arab Spring,’ the Greek sovereign debt crisis, Islamic terrorism, the continuation of deadlock over the Cypriot and Palestinian Issues, significant energy finds in the Levantine Basin, concerns over nuclear proliferation and, more recently, the Syrian Civil War. At a systemic level, the move towards a regional multipolar reality has also contributed to volatility by creating a crescendo of antagonisms between all the major international actors who continuously strive for more influence, power and prestige. This collective project by leading experts represents a unique combination of International Theory and International Politics analysis that deals exclusively with the wider Eastern Mediterranean. It scrutinizes in a multidimensional manner the current geostrategic and geopolitical conditions that include the latest domestic socio-political events, as well as the active involvement of the Great Powers in the region. This book should be of interest to academics, decision-makers and a general reading public focusing on a significant and influential region in flux.

This volume provides an introduction to the Eastern Mediterranean region and introduces the concept of the Eastern Mediterranean as a new regional subsystem. Due to recent events in contemporary international politics, the Eastern Mediterranean can be seen as a laboratory where the balance of power among Great Powers and regional states are being tested. Written by leading academics in their respective fields, this book addresses key developments in the area and argues that the Eastern Mediterranean should be viewed as a distinct region. Particular emphasis is given to the initiatives undertaken by Israel, Greece, Cyprus, and Turkey; the role played by the United States and Russia; and the issues of energy, migration, and Islamic terrorism. Bringing together relevant information and theoretical debates, this book will be of interest to graduate students and academics studying international relations and politics in the Eastern Mediterranean, as well as policymakers and journalists who want to have a clearer understanding of developments in the region.

As a 'Medieval Warm Period' prevailed in Western Europe during the tenth and eleventh centuries, the eastern Mediterranean region, from the Nile to the Oxus, was suffering from a series of climatic disasters which led to the decline of some of the most important civilizations and cultural centres of the time. This provocative study argues that many well-documented but apparently disparate events - such as recurrent drought and famine in Egypt, mass migrations in the steppes of central Asia, and the decline in population in urban centres such as Baghdad and Constantinople - are connected and should be understood within the broad context of climate change. Drawing on a wealth of textual and archaeological evidence, Ronnie Ellenblum explores the impact of climatic and ecological change across the eastern Mediterranean in this period, to offer a new perspective on why this was a turning point in the history of the Islamic world.

This book examines US foreign policy in the Eastern Mediterranean and the region’s key role in the practice and evolution of American exceptionalism. The political developments in the Eastern Mediterranean during the 19th and the first half of the 20th centuries, gave to the US opportunities to express, in the most explicit way, its anti-colonialism, the fervent support of open and democratic societies, and its willingness to openly confront tyranny and oppression whenever this was possible (or necessary) for American interests. Since that time, the region has been a testing ground for the core elements of American foreign policy deployed worldwide. The monograph shows the contributions of the United States during critical moments in the region, such as the First Barbary War (1801-1805), the introduction of Truman Doctrine, Washington’s role in the Suez Crisis, the Greek junta and the Imia Crisis of 1996. It also scrutinizes the different levels of the economic, military and diplomatic challenges which China, Russia and Turkey present today, while it also covers the American approach to the Arab Spring. From a ‘Shining City on a Hill’ to the current ‘Make America Great Again’ mottoes, this critique follows American Foreign Policy in the Eastern Mediterranean and the strong bonds that the nation established with the geostrategic, political and ideological features of the region. The pace of recent events, and the increasing complexity of this global corner, prove a challenge to America today; the future and clarion call that hard work and the finest ingenuity are necessary to keep its regional hegemony, and its course toward increased prosperity. This work’s goal is to inspire the conversations by academics, diplomats, leaders (both political and military) and most of all businessmen, to this end.

This book surveys the historical development, current problems and likely prospects for Eastern Mediterranean port cities, providing contributions from scholars from various disciplines, such as archaeologists, historians, economists, urban planners and architects. By studying the city of Mersin and the surrounding area, it offers insights into the changing nature of Eastern Mediterranean port cities. The first part of the book discusses the approaches to the Mediterranean World, from the late prehistory to the present, and questions the implications of the values inherited from the past for a sustainable future. The second part then examines the social structure of Eastern Mediterranean port cities presenting an in-depth study of different ethnic groups and communities. In the third part the changing physical structure of these cities is elucidated from the perspectives of archaeology, architecture, and urban planning. The last part focuses on urban memory through a detailed study based on live recordings of original accounts by the local people. The book benefits prospective researchers in the field of Mediterranean studies, archaeology, history, economic history, architecture and urban planning.

This volume focusses on the interplay between war and society in the Eastern Mediterranean, in a period which witnessed the Arab conquests, the Seljuk invasion, the Crusades, and the Mongol incursions. The military aspects of these momentous events have not been fully discussed so far. For the first time this book offers a synthesis of trends in military technology and its effect on society in the period from the Arab conquests to the establishment of an Ottoman hegemony. War and Society in the Eastern Mediterranean provides for medievalists an Oriental context to the military aspects of the Crusades, and for scholars of both Middle Eastern and military history a coherent treatment of an important topic over a long period and covering many different cultures.