A request for pointers

[stonebender]

I think of my friends here as a very bright group. Perhaps this is an impossible request, but I've been thinking about the stuff going on in the Middle East for obvious reasons. It occurs to me that I'm forming opinions with less and less understanding of the situation there. Would anybody have some good places to start reading about the Middle East and the forces contributing to the mess going on there? I know people could spend a lifetime, but I'm trying to figure out a good place to start. I'd prefer online sources, but if there are some good books that would give me a general overview to start with that's good too.

Comments

[snippy]

That's a pretty general request, and most of what I've read addresses specific questions.

This is a refutation of the idea that Israel is a mistake.

This contrasts treatment of Muslims in Israel with treat of Jews in Muslim countries.

This discusses some of the actors and events of the last few years.

This is an Iraqi's view of the current conflict.

[snippy]

Here is a discussion of the weapons Hezbollah uses (note: to intentionally target civilians), and why Israel's response is therefore going to have unintended and unavoidable civilian casualties.

[snippy]

This one is speculation about Iran's involvement.

And this is an opinion piece proposing that it's all one war: Iraq, Israel, Syria, Lebanon...they all lead to Iran.