AdefinitiveoverviewofwhatpoliticalscientistsareworkingonwithintheMiddleEastandNorthAfrica.TheArabUprisingsof2011-12catalyzedanewwaveofrigorous,deeplyinformedresearchonthepoliticsoftheMiddleEastandNorthAfrica(MENA).InThePoliticalScienceoftheMiddleEast,MarcLynch,JillianSchwedler,andSeanYompresentthedefinitiveoverviewofthispathbreakingturn.Thisisamonumentalstocktakingorganizedaroundasingulartheme:newtheorizingfromtheMENAhasadvancedthefrontiersofcomparativepoliticsandinternationalrelations,andtheclose-rangestudyoftheregionoccupiesacoreplaceinmainstreampoliticalscience.Itsdozenchapterscoveranexhaustivearrayoftopics,includingauthoritarianismanddemocracy,contentiouspolitics,regionalsecurity,militaryinstitutions,conflictandviolence,thepoliticaleconomyofdevelopment,Islamistmovements,identityandsectarianism,publicopinion,migration,andlocalpolitics.Foreachofthesetopics,leadingMENAexpertsandspecialistshighlightinnovativeconcepts,vibrantdebates,diversemethodologies,andunexpectedfindings.Theresultisanindispensableresearchprimer,onethatstandsasagenerationalstatementfromaregionalsubfield.
