Alasdair Drysdale

The Middle East and North Africa (eBook, ePUB)

A Contemporary Geography

• Format: ePub

Produktbeschreibung

This contemporary text-the first in over a decade on the region-presents the geography of the Middle East and North Africa, defined as the Arab World, Israel, Turkey, Iran, and Afghanistan. Thematically organized, the book's eleven chapters focus on the region's physical and climatic setting, demographic characteristics, migration patterns, religious and linguistic diversity, political map, offshore claims, oil and gas resources, and subregions and states. Within this framework, Drysdale emphasizes pressing current problems: the impact of climate change in a region where some areas already suffer from extreme summer heat and aridity, the challenge of providing additional water in a region where per capita availability of freshwater is already the lowest in the world, the impact of high fertility and rapid population growth in a fragile environment where economies are often unable to absorb young workers entering the labor force, the looming prospect of an aging population, the effects of out- and in-migration, the diverse impact and role of Islam in daily and public life, the integrative consequences of linguistic and ethnic diversity, the evolution and imperfections of the political map, ongoing territorial and boundary disputes that often have global repercussions, external dependence on the region's prolific oil and gas resources, and the extreme regional inequalities associated with their presence or absence. This timely and insightful analysis is essential reading for students of the region who need a better understanding of key regional characteristics, challenges, and issues.

Produktdetails

• Verlag: Bloomsbury eBooks US
• Seitenzahl: 410
• Erscheinungstermin: 15. Oktober 2024
• Englisch
• ISBN-13: 9781538182543
• Artikelnr.: 74830348

Autorenporträt

Alasdair Drysdale is the co-author of The Middle East and North Africa: A Political Geography and Syria and the Middle East Peace Process and the author of numerous book chapters, journal articles, and encyclopedia entries on the region. The winner of the Lindberg Prize for Outstanding Teaching at the University of New Hampshire, he has taught a course on the Middle East and North Africa for over forty years. He has been invited to offer testimony at hearings on the Middle East before a US Congressional subcommittee on Foreign Affairs and served on the editorial board of Arab World Geographer.

Inhaltsangabe

Table of Contents
Chapter 1. Introduction
Regional Definition and Nomenclature
The Region Defined in this Book
Global Importance
Organization of the Book
Chapter 2. Physical Environment
Physical Landscape
Climate
Climate Change
Chapter 3. Water
Dimensions of Water Stress
Water Sources
Chapter 4. Population
Spatial Distribution and Density
Human Impact
Population Data
Concepts and Processes
Family Planning
Aging
Chapter 5. Migration
Theories and Concepts
Overview of Major Flow
Countries Receiving Immigrants
Countries Mostly Providing Emigrants
Transit Migration
Forced Migration: Refugees
Human Trafficking
Chapter 6. Religion
Islam as a Global Faith
Links with Judaism and Christianity
Origins and Diffusion
Scriptures and Laws
Five Pillars
Sunnis and Shi'is
Other Dimensions of Diversity
Non-Muslims
Chapter 7. Language
Key Concepts
Afro-Asiatic Languages
Turkic Languages
Indo-European Languages
Chapter 8. Political Map
From Empires to States
From State to Nation
Boundaries
Regional Integration
Chapter 9. Economy
Offshore Interests
National Jurisdiction Offshore
Boundaries and Boundary Disputes
Access to the Sea
International Straits and Waterways
Chapter 10. Petroleum
Global Context
The Transportation of Oil
Evolution of Concessions and Ownership
Prices
The Regional Impact
Changing Sources of Global Energy
Chapter 11. A Summary: Subregions and States
The Northern Tier
The Central Middle East
Arabian Peninsula
The Nile Valley
Northwestern Africa
About the Author