Although this collection of ten separate studies of the foreign policies of Egypt, Israel, Syria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Libya, Tunisia, Yemen, Iran, and Turkey have different authors, significant consensus was worked out prior to publication on the theoretical framework to be used in all the studies. Described by editors Hinnebusch (international relations and Middle East politics, U of St. Andrews, UK) and Ehteshami (international relations, U. of Durham, UK) as being a modified version of realism, the framework accepts the idea that the state is the main actor in foreign policy and that local elites are interested in maximizing the autonomy and security of states, but it accepts some of the structuralists' claims of constraints due to a hierarchical world economic system, as well as constructivists' arguments about how the way identity is constructed leads to constraints from sub- and suprastate identities leading to transstate movements. In addition to the country studies, three articles address the impact of the international system on the Middle East, the systemic issues of security in the region, and overall patterns of policy.

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Introduction: the analytical framework : the Middle East regional system / Raymond Hinnebusch -- The impact of the international system on the Middle East / B.A. Roberson -- The challenge of security in the post-Gulf War Middle East system / Nadia El-Shazly and Raymond Hinnebusch -- The foreign policy of Egypt / Raymond Hinnebusch -- The foreign policy of Israel / Clive Jones -- The foreign policy of Syria / Raymond Hinnebusch -- The foreign policy of Iraq / Charles Tripp -- The foreign policy of Saudi Arabia / F. Gregory Gause III -- The foreign policy of Libya / Tim Niblock -- The foreign policy of Tunisia / Emma C. Murphy -- The foreign policy of Yemen / Fred Halliday -- The foreign policy of Iran / Anoushiravan Ehteshami -- The foreign policy of Turkey / Philip Robins -- Conclusion: patterns of policy / Anoushiravan Ehteshami and Raymond Hinnebusch.