About the Book
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.
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
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.
Review :
[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
With perceptiveness and authority, with impressive command of exciting new sources and methodologies, The Middle East in 1958 illuminates this six-decades-old history, establishing its resonance and relevance for a new generation of readers
Jeffrey G. Karam’s The Middle East in 1958 is an impressive examination of a revolutionary year whose impact still reverberates today. Drawing on a range of archival sources, Karam’s volume benefits from the latest research by leading scholars. Its regional and global approach to the tumultuous events of 1958 makes it ideal for graduate and undergraduate courses.
The Middle East in 1958 examines one of the most transformative critical junctures in the political history of the region. This expertly edited volume shows how the examination of 1958 is relevant and timely to our understanding of current regional dynamics. The Middle East in 1958 not only significantly expands our understanding of some of the most vital historical events that shaped the current structure of the region, it paves the way for producing more relevant historical knowledge by using innovative methodologies and multilingual sources.
‘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.’
