This book's main theme is that--unlike a few decades ago, when it was meaningfully seen as an autonomous subsystem of the global international political system'the Middle East now is subordinate to the only remaining superpower, the United States, in alliance with Israel (an unusual alliance in that the latter, as the local manifestation of a worldwide movement, penetrates the political system of the former and, within limits, sometimes dominates it) and Arab client regimes. This pattern of international politics is described as imperialism. Following an extensive introductory chapter that establishes the themes and structure of the larger text, this volume evaluates Middle East politics within the context of contemporary international order, in which the Middle East is viewed as a subordinate periphery.