others struggle through a variety of political and social resistance to retain older and more traditional ways of doing things. In the few years since the previous edition of this book we have witnessed, the Middle East alone has witnessed the emergence of the Arab Spring that challenged long-standing dictatorships by a citizenry bent on establishing democracy; the de-escalation of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; a major civil war emerging in Syria; the death of Osama bin Laden; and the continuation of terrorist threats aimed at Western interests"--

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