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

[stonebender.livejournal.com]

Thanks for all the links! And please disregard my comment about "invented nations". In my head I wasn't actually referring to any nation or its right to be. Its just that there seems to be a disconnect between the national borders of some of these countries and the people who would normally think of themselves as countrymen. Complicated by lots of other factors I was just thinking of one.

[mactavish.livejournal.com]

History of Oil (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7374585792978336967) :)

(Though really, this isn't at all about the west coast of the Middle East. There's a lot more long-term religious history in that.)

[stonebender.livejournal.com]

Thank you very much!

[mactavish.livejournal.com]

Found this just now: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_Israel-Lebanon_conflict

[stonebender.livejournal.com]

This one seems like a good starting place for me. Thanks Mary