Includes bibliographical references (p. 212-216) and index.

The Middle East : an overview / Subhash Kapila -- U.S. pursuit of oil and natural gas resources creates conflict in the Middle East / Michael T. Klare ; interviewed by Julian Brookes -- Water is a major source of conflict in the Middle East / Piers Moore Ede -- Israeli violence against Palestinians creates conflict in the Middle East / Jeremy Salt -- Continuing Palestinian terrorism against Israel creates conflict in the Middle East / Mortimer B. Zuckerman -- Islamic extremism causes terrorist violence in the Middle East / Paul Marshall --Islamic sectarianism increases the risk of conflict in the Middle East / Vali Nasr -- Should the United States withdraw its troops from Iraq? War has failed / Ibrahim M. Oweiss -- The costs of the Iraq war are astronomical / Andrew Stephen -- The Iraq war does not improve U.S. energy security / Jerry Landay -- Permanent U.S. bases in Iraq will only worsen the terrorist threat / Thomas Gale Moore -- The United States can still succeed in Iraq / Frederick W. Kagan and Kimberly Kagan -- The 2007 U.S. troop surge in Iraq is making progress / Max Boot -- Iraq to protect U.S. interests there / Kevin Zeese -- The United States should not abandon Iraq / Hoshyar Zebari -- Can the Israeli-Palestinian conflict be resolved? Israel cannot ignore the Arab peace initiative / Ami Isseroff -- The Palestinians are ready for peace if Israel will negotiate / Daoud Kuttab -- Palestinians desire to destroy Israel prevents a Peaceful Settlement to the Arab-Israeli Conflict / Dennis Prager -- American/Israeli preconditions have blocked the peace process / Seth Ackerman -- Israel plans to keep the occupied territories because of their vital water resources / IsabelIe Humphries -- Foreign interests do not want the Arab-Israeli conflict to be resolved / Joel Bainerman -- Should the United States be involved with the problems of the Middle East?. The vital interests of the United States are at stake in the Middle East / Doug Edelman -- Only the United States can broker peace between Israel and the Palestinians / Stephen D. Hayes -- The United States should continue to champion democracy in the Middle East / Michael Oren -- Continued U.S. intervention in the Middle East promotes anti-Americanism and terrorism / Leon Hadar -- U.S. military actions in the Middle East do not promote security / Patrick Seale -- The U.S. war in Iraq Is hurtling the Middle East toward World War IV / Justin Raimondo.