LibGuides: Middle East Complexities: Culture & Conflict: Purpose

Purpose

This guide provides resources to help understand and analyze the often conflicting cultural, religious, political, and historical forces at work in the Middle East.

It began as a companion resource to the Syria Global Gatherings, held during Spring 2015 semester at the Florissant Valley Campus, and has been updated to include resources on the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, 2023 as well as general resources on the Middle East.

Where Is The Middle East?
History of the concept of the Middle East as a region, with maps and a list of included countries. Center for Middle East and Islamic Studies.

Middle East

Middle East & North Africa, Global Voices
Global Voices is an international, multilingual, primarily volunteer community of writers, translators, academics, and human rights activists. Together, we leverage the power of the internet to build understanding across borders.
The Middle East Friendship Chart
With overlapping civil wars in Syria and Iraq, a new flare-up of violence between Israel and the Palestinians, and tense nuclear talks with Iran, Middle Eastern politics are more volatile than ever and longtime alliances are shifting. Here's a guide to who's on whose side in the escalating chaos. Joshua Keating is a staff writer at Slate focusing on international affairs and writes the World blog.

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Acknowledgement

The guide started as a companion resource to FV's Spring 2015 Syria Global Gatherings by Cathy Reilly. It is updated by the STLCC Instruction Librarians with input from Jennifer Medeiros, Lead Faculty for History, Geography, and Political Science, Florissant Valley campus.