The Middle East in 1958: Reimagining a Revolutionary Year

by Jeffrey G. Karam (Editor)

Overview

The revolutionary year of 1958 epitomizes the height of the social uprisings, military coups, and civil wars that erupted across the Middle East and North Africa in the mid-twentieth century. Amidst waning Anglo-French influence, growing US-USSR rivalry, and competition and alignments between Arab and non-Arab regimes and domestic struggles, this year was a turning point in the modern history of the Middle East.

This multi and interdisciplinary book explores this pivotal year in its global, regional and local contexts and from a wide range of linguistic, geographic, academic specialties. The contributors draw on declassified and multilingual archives, reports, memoirs, and newspapers in thirteen country-specific chapters, shedding new light on topics such as the extent of Anglo-American competition after the Suez War, Turkey's efforts to stand as a key pillar in the regional Cold War, the internationalization of the Algerian War of Independence, and Iran and Saudi Arabia's abilities to weather the revolutionary storm that swept across the region. The book includes a foreword from Salim Yaqub which highlights the importance of Jeffrey G. Karam's collection to the scholarship on this vital moment in the political history of the modern middle east.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780755606818
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication date:	09/17/2020
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	248
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Jeffrey G. Karam is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at the Lebanese American University. He is also an Associate at Harvard University's Middle East Initiative. He is the author of several articles, book chapters, and policy briefs on U.S. intelligence and foreign policy in the Middle East. He is the recipient of several awards, including the Christopher Andrew–Michael Handel Prize for the best article in Intelligence and National Security in 2017.
Jeffrey G. Karam is Assistant Professor of Political Science at Lebanese American University (LAU), Lebanon, and a Research Associate at Harvard University's Middle East Initiative in the U.S. He is the editor of The Middle East in 1958: Reimagining A Revolutionary Year (I.B Tauris, 2020).

Table of Contents

Foreword: Salim Yaqub, University of California, Santa Barbara
Chapter 1: Reimagining 1958 Through the Lenses of Multilingual Sources and Interdisciplinary Perspectives, Jeffrey G. Karam, Lebanese American University

Part 1 - The Regional and International Context of 1958: Declining and Rising Powers in the Middle East
Chapter 2: The Point of Departure: The Impact of the Revolutionary Year of 1958 on British Policy, Robert McNamara, Ulster University
Chapter 3: France and the Middle East in 1958: Continuity and Change Through Crisis, Sofia Papastamkou, French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), University of Lille.
Chapter 4: Cautious Revisionism and the Limits of Hegemony in 1958: A Revolutionary Year for the United States in the Middle East, Jeffrey G. Karam, Lebanese American University
Chapter 5: The 'Partisans of Peace' Between Baku and Moscow: The Soviet Experience of 1958, Elizabeth Bishop, Texas State University-San Marcos

Part 2 – Rivalry and Alliances between Arab and Non-Arab States: Regionalizing Dynamics of the Cold War
Chapter 6: Saudi Arabia in the Crucible of 1958, Nathan Citino, Rice University
Chapter 7: Egypt's Revolutionary Year: Regime Consolidation at Home, Pragmatism Abroad, and Neutralism in the Cold War, Dina Rezk, University of Reading
Chapter 8: The Outsider Inside: Turkey and the Domino Effect of Arab Nationalism in 1958, Murat Kasapsaraçoglu, Antalya Bilim University
Chapter 9: Creating the 'Island of Stability': Iran, the Cold War, and American Cultural Diplomacy at the End of the 1950s. John Ghazvinian, University of Pennsylvania

Part 3 – Connecting the Local to the Global: Revolutions, Wars, and Coups in the Middle East
Chapter 10: How about 1958 in Algeria? A Transnational Event in the Context of the War of Independence, Sylvie Thénault, French National Centre for Scientific Research, University of Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne
Chapter 11: The Iraqi Revolution of 1958: Its Historic Significance and Relevance for the Present, Juan Romero, Western Kentucky University
Chapter 12: No Turning Back: Syria and the 1958 Watershed, Fadi Esber, London School of Economics and Political Science
Chapter 13: The Crisis of 1958 in Lebanon: Political Rivalries, Caroline Attie, Dar al Hekma University
Chapter 14: Evolution and Revolution: Jordan in 1958, Clea Hupp, Syracuse University
Chapter 15: Reflections and Conclusions from the Revolutionary Year of 1958, Jeffrey G. Karam, Lebanese American University

Editorial Reviews

"[Sheds] new light on topics such as the Suez War, Turkey’s position in the regional Cold War, the internationalization of the Algerian War of Independence, and the influence of Iran and Saudi Arabia in the revolutionary storms across the region" —International Review of Social History

“'By widening their focus and digging deeper into the archives Jeffrey G. Karam and his colleagues have new things to say about a pivotal moment in the politics of the Middle East.'” —Robert Vitalis, Professor of Political Science, University of Pennsylvania, USA

From the Publisher