Surveys the main conflicts and insurgencies in recent Middle East history, focusing mainly on the period since the 1980's. Taking a historical-analytical approach, it covers challenges from revolutionary groups, civil wars, and the main conventional wars in the region.

Introduction /Barry Rubin -- What do Middle Eastern armies do? / Barry Rubin -- Arab as insurgent and counterinsurgent / Norvell B. DeAtkine -- Iran-Iraq war : will without means / Joana Dodds and Benjamin Wilson -- Lessons of the jihadist insurgency in Saudi Arabia / Hassan Mneimneh -- Egypt's civil war / Barry Rubin -- Terrorism as a military factor : the Israeli-Palestinian peace process era, 1993-2000 / Boaz Ganor -- Lebanon 2006 : unfinished war / Jonathan Spyer -- Lebanon's militia wars / Tony Badran -- Soviet-Afghan war : a superpower mired in the mountains / Lester W. Grau -- Morocco-Polisario war for Western Sahara, 1975-1991 / Jacob Mundy -- Islamism and insurgency in post-independence Algeria / Yahia H. Zoubir -- Iraq insurgency / William S. McCallister -- Innovation and war : the U.S. military and the Iraq insurgency / James A. Russell.