A House Divided
What the Easter 1920 riots in Jerusalem revealed about British rule in Palestine.
Middle East
Slaves to War
The military elite of the Muslim world was comprised of men who had been captured and forced into service. But to what extent were they subject to slavery?
Oil and Water: The Tanker Wars
The Strait of Hormuz has become a fraught passage in the Tanker Wars between Iran and Iraq.
The First Tanker War with Iran
If tensions between the US and Iran in the Persian Gulf lead to war, it will not be the first time. In 1987 and 1988, the US intervened to protect shipping from Iranian attacks.
‘Arabs’ by Tim Mackintosh-Smith review
Arabic was not just spread by the sword, but by merchants, patron-hunting poets and dowry-seeking princes.
Yitzhak Rabin, Israel’s Independent Introvert
The assassination of Yitzhak Rabin robbed Israel of a rare politician able to make peace with the Palestinians.
Beyond Balfour and Sykes-Picot
Steering clear of Orientalist fantasy and patriotic British myth, this innovative analysis brings clarity to the complexities of the Middle East in the early 20th century.
Shakespeare: the Bard Beyond Borders
Shakespeare’s approach to history and geography is often regarded as something of a joke. But his skill was in reconstructing the medieval Mediterranean for audiences whose horizons were being expanded.
Learning Lessons in the Middle East
The history of Britain’s foreign policy in the Middle East is largely a litany of failure, of self-inflicted wounds that are still felt today. Peter Mangold considers what British diplomats and politicians have failed to learn.
ISIS and the Abuse of History
The defeat of ISIS can only be achieved if we take a long view and question the Jihadists’ simplistic interpretation of the West’s troubled relationship with the Middle East.