The multi-vector development discourse about ‘the Gulf’ as booming in an emerging multi-polar world sets a very high bar for the scholars who sustain the function of this anomaly in the Global South. Recognizing that a variegated propaganda-for-sale is at play in the production of an ideological Gulf narrative, we have invested in this Special Issue, titled ‘The Gulf and the World.’ We have sought to identify the prevailing hegemonic discourse devised to render palpable the geopolitical relationship between a Western capitalist project and their allies in the Gulf. The resulting findings situate the myth of a selective group of Western-leaning states circulating within often disparate, even rival, scholarly approaches. The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states have not only monopolized scholarly notions of the Gulf, but also engendered in developmental terms a disjointed, if not crumbling, MENA region. At this juncture, its character as a contemporary ‘anomaly’ carries concrete function in creating a new analytical prism that reinserts the Gulf’s strategic value as a particular operational node for the imperialist fracturing of the wider region in terms of socio-cultural, economic and political cohesion. As hinted throughout, scholarship on the Gulf contraption requires new frames of analysis.

Often treated as simply anti-modernism, a focus on three reformist figures with transnational intellectual ties—Shariat Sangelaji, Asadollah Kharaqani, and Muhammad Khalesizadeh—reveals how Iranian natives of the Gulf littoral contributed to reconstitute modern life by criticizing the global structures of power arising with European imperialism. Blurring the dichotomy of modern/traditional, Iran and the West, these intellectuals with trans-regional scholarly connections combined different aspects of modernity with a reading of Islamic practice to offer a global model of resistance for Muslims. A version of this Shi’i empowerment in the face of growing changes in the larger world and at home mobilized discussions about women in Iran as the source of the necessary social cohesion during the anti-imperialist struggle. A challenge to normative portrayals of Islam (and religion more generally) as an impediment to progress, studying these three Gulf scholars’ alternative modernity allows for identifying a campaign to free women from the consequences of their economic exploitation.

The Ottoman Empire’s territorial and maritime reach throughout its nearly 600-year existence is nothing short of extraordinary. Considering the plethora of adversaries at whose expense the empire continued to expand, its boundaries and their movement over time deserve close attention as sites of cultural, socioeconomic, as well as political history. Here we explore the theme of Ottoman borders as critical windows into the dynamics shaping the larger empire, including the great urban centers often located far from these frontiers. In providing a summary of the territorial limits (or beginnings) of this multiethnic empire, we provide insights into the complexities that constitute the processes by which the Ottomans administered as much as lived in these regions. Be they witness to the stability that accompanied peace between neighboring states or the frequent volatility caused by war, the empire’s edges served as theaters for intraimperial development that shaped subject and state alike.

The Ottoman Empire’s long history is infused with stories of migration, voluntary or not. Increasingly an area of focus for scholars, the migration story has diversified as studies seek to explain in new ways a larger historical process. From the very beginning of the empire, large flows of human beings animated Ottoman political, economic, and cultural life. From peasants uprooted by periods of administrative transition occurring as the empire replaced previous ruling structures to political, cultural, and economic exiles welcomed by various constituencies within the Ottoman state structure, migrants, nomads, and refugees have been critical to the framing of a wide variety of histories (Kasaba, 2009).

While previous scholarship has proven helpful, there is room to improve some ways of characterizing such migratory actors. The associations made by referring to sets of people moving within Ottoman territories as migrants, workers, and/or refugees shape our interpretation of events around them. Refugees, for example, are often portrayed as having been bereft of agency and dependent on the historical choices of their “hosts” – often the Ottoman state or its external rivals. Research has shown that their stories are far more complex (Fratantuono, 2017). Earlier work on refugees (muhacir in Ottoman) in the larger context of migration suggests that their contribution to Ottoman history was just as crucial to understanding the dramatic, often disconnected events. By the final century, for example, government officials sought to administer and regulate their settlement because of how critical they were to maintaining stability. In other words, at certain moments the refugee become an active agent of Ottoman history.

Long the destination for uprooted peoples in the broader Middle East, Jordan’s complex history of accommodating refugees regularly requires scholarly attention. Initially a dumping ground for Britain’s Palestinian victims and later for refugees from Iraq to Syria and beyond, Jordan today hosts upwards of three million refugees. It is from this dynamic setting of accommodation and the resulting political crises that this excellent volume intervenes. With multiple contributors casting a long historic light on the capacities of the state to manage each wave of refugees, the resulting exposé of policies expands readers' understanding of the complexities of constant adjustment. The important findings from this volume take place over three sections. The first includes contributions on how Jordanian officials work with international organizations to assimilate large numbers of refugees into the country’s exploitative labor markets and the more difficult task of shaping how refugees fend for themselves during long periods of funding scarcity. The final two sections reflect on the resulting attempts by various groups of refugees to organize their lives in camps and new neighborhoods of cities by way of solidarity communities, providing valuable insights for readers to better understand the modern Middle East more generally. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty; professionals.

Upsetting tropes about Euro-American expansionism into Southeast Asia requires identifying a diverse cadre of imperialist benefactors who availed themselves as the racial go-betweens in the violent confrontations with Indigenous peoples. As imperial administrators sought alternative means of subjugating Indigenous Muslims in the South China Sea, a new complexity to the power dynamics informing Jafaar Alloul’s concept of ‘racial capital’ emerges. As we monitor first Spanish and then US efforts to balance expectations and methods of rule over Muslim populations, our analysis demands a reassessment of the elusive profile of the frontiersmen, settlers, pioneers, miners and state employees who brought modern capitalism’s empire from the North American Great Plains to the jungled highlands and coastal swamps of the Southern Philippines and Borneo.

Hoffman (Cato Institute) offers policymakers a workable model of how Islam serves the political interests of three Gulf regimes rather than guiding their rule through religious doctrine. Considering a broad range of scholarship on political Islam neglected in this study, it is not certain Hoffman's work is unique. Still, it is worth consulting the development of a thesis that challenges some assumptions about Islamic theology informing the region's decision-makers. Foreign policy in particular proves vulnerable to secular political currents, well beyond the means of state-appointed religious scholars to either grasp or influence. It is the religious platform servicing political objectives that shapes political Islam. While a fair conclusion, the book continues another myth. The three regimes under study—Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates—remain autonomous from the larger world, seeking unique and independent political objectives. "Regime preservation" and these regimes' "projection of power" require the manipulation of religion (and culture more generally, as well as history), as clearly stated throughout. What remains missing, however, is the role of old imperialist interests like Britain and the US, neatly marginalized in this lucidly written study. Summing Up: Optional. Advanced undergraduates through faculty; professionals

Thanks to this lucid English translation, originally published in Turkish as Sultanın Casusları, English-language readers can appreciate how the early modern Ottomans successfully navigated multiple challenges posed by their European rivals. At the heart of this interesting, if theoretically muted, work are details about the Ottoman Empire's numerous intelligence gathering programs. By way of patronage networks set up by regional governors scattered throughout the empire and various espionage resources recruited by Christian clergy, sailors and merchants helped the Sublime Porte draw strategies that proved essential for the empire's survival. Processing the disparate information gathered from these various sources proved equally impressive. Readers ultimately learn from this rich, fluid story that the Ottoman Empire's myriad authorities translated intelligence into policies that empowered factions (i.e., "interests groups") as much as the state. The resulting use of information (and disinformation)—ostensibly an operation that outsourced intelligence gathering—reflects an early modern example of how external actors, as much as those embedded in power, can induce state policies beneficial to them. The Ottoman state proved its very survival was predicated on incorporating these disparate and often rival constituencies, many of which straddled the different empires of the Mediterranean world. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Advanced undergraduates through faculty.

The multi-vector development discourse about ‘the Gulf’ as booming in an emerging multi-polar world sets a very high bar for the scholars who sustain the function of this anomaly in the Global South. Recognizing that a variegated propaganda-for-sale is at play in the production of an ideological Gulf narrative, we have invested in this Special Issue, titled ‘The Gulf and the World.’ We have sought to identify the prevailing hegemonic discourse devised to render palpable the geopolitical relationship between a Western capitalist project and their allies in the Gulf. The resulting findings situate the myth of a selective group of Western-leaning states circulating within often disparate, even rival, scholarly approaches. The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states have not only monopolized scholarly notions of the Gulf, but also engendered in developmental terms a disjointed, if not crumbling, MENA region. At this juncture, its character as a contemporary ‘anomaly’ carries concrete function in creating a new analytical prism that reinserts the Gulf’s strategic value as a particular operational node for the imperialist fracturing of the wider region in terms of socio-cultural, economic and political cohesion. As hinted throughout, scholarship on the Gulf contraption requires new frames of analysis.

Drawing on years of experience researching and teaching the history of the Indian Ocean world, this clever primer penned by historians Alpers (emer., Univ. of California, Los Angeles) and McDow (Ohio State Univ.) not only supplements, but likely replaces, the outdated textbooks college and high school educators use to introduce students to such a vast and complex story. The task of encouraging those already teaching and future instructors to adopt au courant research into their world history courses invariably addresses the frustrations scholars of the Indian Ocean world have with their field’s neglect. By creating an accessible format of course design principles, this book guides would-be teachers on how to engage topics as varied as geography, trade, migration, disease, empire, and the impact of the environment on Indian Ocean societies. As such, the helpful introduction to non-European sources that accommodates the historical methodologies to which these two experts of the field contributed over the years makes this an excellent tool for instructors seeking new ways to develop their curriculum and thus enrich their students' experience when learning about how the Indian Ocean contributes to world history. Superb for graduate students, advanced scholars, and high school teachers.