This landmark collection of essays addresses the question: Given peace in the MiddleEast, then what? Focusing on the countries most immediately affected by the Arab-Israeli conflict,economists representing Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, and the Occupied Territories offer differingperspectives on potential opportunities and difficulties and on the actions that would be requiredto redirect, rejuvenate, and sustain the economies of the region.The book opens with case studies ofEgypt, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, and the West Bank and Gaza Strip. It then examines overallregional issues such as the economic consequences of peace and the economic reforms needed tomaximize peace dividends. Essays in the last part focus on the transition to peace and the futureeconomic development of the Palestinian, Israeli, Jordanian, and other regional economiesTopicsaddressed include the relation of defense spending to the economy, the implications of a peace fortrade across borders, the benefits of economic cooperation between Israelis and Palestinians, andthe role of foreign aid in economic reconstruction in the Middle East.Stanley Fischer is Professorof Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dani Rodrik is Associate Professor ofPublic Policy at the Kennedy School, Harvard University. Elias Tuma is Professor of Economics at theUniversity of California, Davis.

The Political Economy of Middle East Peace looks at the political economy of the Middle Eastern peace process with a focus on the politics of trade. Contributors investigate the ways new commercial alliances develop as a result of economic agencies established via the Arab-Israeli peace process and look at institutions which contribute to redirection of Arab intra- and inter-regional trade, such as the Palestine Monetary Authority, the Middle East Development Bank and free trade zone agencies in Aquaba and Dubai.

The Middle East is an area of great importance globally, yet misperceptions abound. Events have made it a region of special interest to the West and so the search for understanding gains momentum. This publication is intended to clarify the region’s complex history and issues. In developing this project, the contributors’ set out to explore seven significant themes that are usually not found in other sources. While many books focus on political history and conflicts, this two-volume work deals specifically with culture, religion, women, economics, governance, and media, as well as the role that the region’s modern history has played in shaping its society and worldview.

Describing the changes of heart and mind that reordered the Middle East in the wake of the First World War, AlbertHourani, one of the great scholars of the modern Middle East,has written: "Wars are catalysts, bringing to consciousness feelings hitherto inarticulate and creating expectations of change." The Gulf War of early 1991 bears the signs of having been such a catalyst. Having proved its assertiveness and strength, and having led a wide-ranging coalition into battle,the United States has, since the war's end, embarked on an energetic diplomatic effort aimed at settling the long-standing conflict between the majority of the Arab states and Israel. The peace conference that Secretary of State James A. Baker III has organized will grapple with a number of issues. One of the most contentious and significant will be the future of thePalestinians of Gaza and the West Bank.

Leading commentators on Europe and the Middle East explore many of the key issues which have informed the relationship between the two regions. Ranging from Europe's colonial legacies to an uncertain economic future in the region the book covers: * the Cold War and after * the profound influence of the US * the rise of political Islam * case studies including Europe and the Iranian revolution, France's experiences in Algeria, and Turkey's position between the two regions. The EU, it is argued, has more influence over economic strategies than security issues in the Middle East. These strategies have in turn promoted stability in the form of free trade zones, ensuring vital economic development between the Middle East and Europe.

Israel and Jordan, even though self-proclaimed enemies of one another, practiced a relationship of interdependence based on corresponding interests. In the years following the 1967 war, these two countries' fates were delicately intertwined because of many factors like mutual reliance on natural resources (especially water) and parallel interests in the subordination of the Palestinian national movement. These conditions of commonality led to extensive ties between the two countries and approximated a state of de facto peace that - ironically - made an official peace treaty almost impossible to sign. A formal peace treaty would have required not only Israel's withdrawal from the West Bank but also Jordan's acknowledgment of the clandestine contacts between the two formal enemies. Yehuda Lukacs gives us an account of how this relationship changed in 1988 when Jordan disengaged from the West Bank. This event, combined with the Palestinian uprising and the Gulf War, paved the way for Israel and Jordan in 1994 to sign the Israeli-Jordanian peace treaty. By systematically examining the impact of functional cooperation between two official enemies, Lukacs makes an important contribution to Middle East studies and international conflict resolution.

The volume serves as an important mile-stone in the process called "second track" dialogue and cooperation between Israeli and Palestinian academics on crucial shared problems, the resolution of which is vital to the peace process. The book contains forty-one original papers dealing with almost all aspects of the Middle-Eastern water problems, and should serve as a useful reference to students, scholars and policy makers all over the world interested in understanding the complexities of the Middle-Eastern water conflicts.