Regionally-based Arabs and Iranian scholars here explore the preoccupation of the economic, political, educational and strategist present of Arab-Iranian relationships in the context of the historical and cultural past.
The issues covered include: historical ties and the current state of mutual awareness between Arabs and Iranians; the impact of the political and journalistic rhetoric of each side on their relationships; the image of Arabs and Iranians in each others' schoolbooks; economic ties and the prospects for their future development; the status of Arab and Iranian women; border and territorial disputes between Arab states and Iran; the position of Arab states and Iran on the Kurdish question; the Palestine question in Arab-Iranian relations; a comparative study of civil society in Iran and in Arab countries; and Arab-Iranian ties in the context of international relations.

Pre-eminent among the requisites for economic integration is monetary integration. It is the premise of the chapters in this book that if the Arab world is to achieve a closer degree of cooperation in economic and political spheres, the issue of monetary integration must be given much more attention. To this end the contributors to this book, who include well-known academics and economic experts from the Arab countries, Europe, the USA and Latin America, have looked at the experience of other areas of the world which have introduced monetary unity. They consider the experiences of Western Europe, Latin America and Western Africa, evaluating them with the objective of focusing on the various major issues which have to be coped with when planning for closer monetary cooperation. While the analysis concerning the scope for future Arab monetary integration revealed varying positions as to the factors which should be stressed and the pre-requisites which should be fulfilled, there emerged general agreement on certain major issues including the following: at the present time the Arab countries should strive to achieve partial rather than full monetary integration and to create the requisite conditions for such a move; economic and monetary integration should be viewed as mutually reinforcing rather than as successive processes; and the political will to achieve integration is a major pre-requisite for any move in that direction. First published in 1981.

This volume provides a wealth of in-depth, country-specific analyses of the Arab Spring, in addition to works that examine the larger theoretical framework and socio-political implications of events. Unlike other analyses, often from the perspective of Western scholarship from the outside looking in, the articles here are drawn primarily from within the Arab world and are authored mainly by Arab experts and scholars with intimate, first-hand knowledge and direct experience of their subject matter and the particular countries on which they focus. The studies and readings included here deal with the countries affected directly by the Arab Spring in addition to ones that focus on meta-trends in the Arab world: the unprecedented mass movements and attendant phenomena, from the mass mobilizations of social media to the effectiveness of non-violent resistance. The volume provides a wealth of insider information as well as valuable analytical tools and models for understanding the Arab Spring. This book was published as a special issue of Contemporary Arab Affairs.

This collection focuses on the controversial relationship between religion and the state within the Arab Spring context and the evolving debates on democratic transition. In this book, democracy is not questionable; it is hailed by all those vocal on the political scene. The array of opinions presented here varies from a call for a secular state based on Islamic philosophy to a call for setting democratic institutions before working on solving this religion-state dichotomy. Meanwhile some prefer to have an ambiguous stand on which side to back up, the liberals or the Islamists, despite a detailed criticism of the ossified ways of those calling for a religious state (Al-Majd). The book starts with an analysis and a detailed account of how the sensitive issue of the relationship between state and religion developed in Arab though and society and it goes on to employ less the religious discourse in presenting their positions thus focusing on actual cases of this struggle for power in different Arab countries such as Tunisia and Egypt. The collection also provides insights and analysis of the ongoing debates and views on the role of religion in Libya and provides an analysis of the case of Morocco. In addition to this there is a special chapter that deals with how Muslim communities living in the West adapt to secular state politics. The collection ends with a thorough discussion by a number of Arab intellectuals and activists, Muslims and Christians alike, whereby core issues related to the debate on state and religion are presented. This discussion, in addition to reflecting the Islamist-secular dichotomy, demonstrates the richness of the ongoing debates that extend well beyond the discourse on this dichotomy.

This book is a compilation of articles published in Contemporary Arab Affairs.

This volume provides a wealth of in-depth, country-specific analyses of the Arab Spring, in addition to works that examine the larger theoretical framework and socio-political implications of events. Unlike other analyses, often from the perspective of Western scholarship from the outside looking in, the articles here are drawn primarily from within the Arab world and are authored mainly by Arab experts and scholars with intimate, first-hand knowledge and direct experience of their subject matter and the particular countries on which they focus. The studies and readings included here deal with the countries affected directly by the Arab Spring in addition to ones that focus on meta-trends in the Arab world: the unprecedented mass movements and attendant phenomena, from the mass mobilizations of social media to the effectiveness of non-violent resistance. The volume provides a wealth of insider information as well as valuable analytical tools and models for understanding the Arab Spring.

This book was published as a special issue of "Contemporary Arab Affairs."