The Arab–Israeli conflict remains one of the longest-running disputes in modern world politics and the search for a lasting peace remains as elusive as ever. The series of wars and disputes starting in 1948 after the arrival of Zionist settlers in Palestine and the creation of the new state of Israel have primarily been about territory, but a number of other issues have exacerbated and prolonged the conflict. Externally, these include superpower rivalry and interventions in the region by Western industrial powers to secure access to the Middle East’s huge oil reserves. Internally, issues such as religious animosities, militarized polities, and the traumas of rapid modernization and development, have all contributed to regional instability.

Attempts at resolving the conflict have included a number of agreements between Palestinians and Israelis, on the one hand, and between Israel and her neighbouring states (Egypt and Jordan), on the other. Although the Oslo Accords of 1993 between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization established a framework for the partial decolonization of territories occupied in 1967, many thorny issues remain unresolved.

Understanding the evolution and unfolding of the Arab–Israeli conflict provides crucial insights into the nature of the local, national, and international politics of the region, and offers vital indications of possible future developments. Moreover, the world crisis following the events of 11 September 2001 underscores the growing need to comprehend and resolve this conflict.

The study of the conflict has generated a huge body of literature, some of it factual and evidence-based, some more polemical and provocative. In all cases there is a wide and divergent range of views. An important tool in understanding the conflict and the emotions it generates is to become familiar with such different perspectives and interpretations, and this new four-volume collection from Routledge provides an overview of both the principal topics and the various approaches to the conflict.

With a full index, together with a comprehensive introduction, newly written by the editor, which places the collected material in its historical and intellectual context, The Arab–Israeli Conflict is an essential work of reference. It is destined to be valued by scholars, students, and researchers of Middle East Studies, Politics, and International Relations as a vital research resource.