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By William L. Cleveland, Martin Bunton
This accomplished paintings offers a penetrating research of recent heart japanese historical past, from the Ottoman and Egyptian reforms, throughout the problem of Western imperialism, to the impression of US foreign rules. After introducing the reader to the region’s historical past from the origins of Islam within the 7th century, A heritage of the trendy heart East specializes in the previous centuries of profound and sometimes dramatic swap. even though equipped round a framework of political historical past, the publication additionally conscientiously integrates social, cultural, and monetary advancements right into a unmarried, expertly crafted account. In updating this 5th version of the overdue William Cleveland’s well known introductory textual content, Martin Bunton offers a radical account of the main transformative advancements over the last 4 years, together with a brand new bankruptcy at the tumultuous Arab uprisings and the participation of Islamist events in a brand new political order within the center East.
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Example text
I am thrown back in my seat and his speedometer hits 120 kilometres per hour. ‘Mafi, mafi. Sway, sway. No, no. Slow, slow,’ I shout. I’ve seen the YouTube footage of the world’s biggest car crash – two hundred vehicles mangled on the highway between Abu Dhabi and Dubai. ‘Ha! You don’t want go fast? ’ I grit my teeth. ’ This city demands surrender. You have to fall in with the unpredictable pace of things. Momentarily overwhelmed with terror and exhilaration, I feel an unexpected wave of affection for the place.
Very cool. You will not know anything from then. ’ He directs me to the booth on his right and mutters in Arabic to the immigration officer. Sitting in his glass booth, in a freshly laundered kandura, the man tilts back in his chair and chuckles quietly. Then he begins to list the many improvements that have been made to the city, as if I had come to him for advice. ‘So many islands. Lulu Island, you can go there. Emirates Palace, very nice. ’ He thumps the stamp on my passport and secures the immigration card inside.
Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al Nahyan, another of Khalifa’s half-brothers, was emerging into the public eye as a model investor. Media coverage showed advisers coming to buy Manchester City Football Club for a couple of hundred million, and the tabloids were splashed with chirpy headlines: ‘Abu Dhabi Doo’, ‘Trillion-dollar Wealth of New Manchester City Owner’ and ‘How I Learned to Love Sheikh Mansour’. 5 billion in Barclays Bank for a huge stake in its equity. Elsewhere Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth funds have bought into foreign businesses and institutions.