Books by Mehran Kamrava

A history of Iran's political underdevelopment, of how and why social movements emerged, and of how they blossomed into revolutions that ultimately betrayed their ideals.

An innovative and comprehensive exploration of revolutions from the French Revolution of 1789 to the most recent 2011 Arab uprisings, which presents a new framework for the study of revolutions, and marks not only the political conditions leading to revolution but also the human emotion bound up in these tumultuous events.

Examining the social and cultural forces that have hindered the emergence and widespread development of democratic polities in the Middle East, the author analyzes the effect politics, in particular, and society-based dynamics, in general, have had on the nature and evolution of Middle Eastern culture.

Troubled Waters looks at four dynamics in the Persian Gulf that have contributed to making the region one of the most volatile and tension-filled spots in the world. Mehran Kamrava identifies the four dynamics as: the neglect of human dimensions of security, the inherent instability involved in reliance on the United States and the exclusion of Iraq and Iran, the international and security policies pursued by inside and outside actors, and a suite of overlapping security dilemmas. These four factors combine and interact to generate long-term volatility and ongoing tensions within the Persian Gulf.Through insights from Kamrava's interviews with Gulf elites into policy decisions, the consequences of security dilemmas, the priorities of local players, and the neglect of identity and religion, Troubled Waters examines the root causes of conflicts and crises that are currently unfolding in the region. As Kamrava demonstrates, each state in the region, including Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Qatar, has embarked on vigorous security-producing efforts as part of foreign policy, flooding the area with more munitions-thereby increasing insecurity and causing more mistrust in a part of the world that needs no more tension.

Kamrava traces the fateful odyssey of domestic Arab politics from the early 1950, through he upheavals of the Arab Spring, to the present day.

The Persian Gulf state of Qatar has fewer than 2 million inhabitants, virtually no potable water, and has been an independent nation only since 1971. Yet its enormous oil and gas wealth has permitted the ruling al Thani family to exert a disproportionately large influence on regional and even international politics. Qatar is, as Mehran Kamrava...

From the fall of the Ottoman Empire through the Arab Spring, this completely revised and updated edition of Mehran Kamrava's classic treatise on the making of the contemporary Middle East remains essential reading for students and general readers who want to gain a better understanding of this diverse region.

The twentieth century has been witness to a number of historic revolutions, beginning with the Mexican and the Russian revolutions at the turn of the century and leading up to the Iranian and Nicaragua revolutions in the 1970s and 1980s.

This book is a completely revised edition of the popular first edition, Politics & Society in the Third World. The author has bought the book in line with the major changes in global politics and social issues of the developing world.