Global The Middle East is designed to provide readers with concise background information and current world press articles on the regions and countries of the world. Included in this edition are country reports on and current statistics for the countries of the Middle East, with regional essays underscoring the current and historical significance of Islam as well as the forces that make the Middle East a theater of conflict in the world today. In addition, a wide selection of articles carefully selected from newspapers and magazines from around the world are reprinted in this volume. The articles section is preceded by a topic guide as well as an annotated table of contents. The topic guide indicates the main theme(s) of each article, while the annotated table of contents offers a brief summary of each article.