Frank Carlson Library

Since the 1970s, Afghanistan has been devastated by social unrest and civil war, as various groups have fought for control over this country in central Asia. The United States and other nations have tried to help create a democratic and progressive government, but many problems remain. The U.S.-backed Afghan government must still contend with various factions for control. One of these is the resurgent Taliban, an Islamist group that ruled Afghanistan...

Iran, once known as Persia, is a major regional power. Its size, history, and resources have enabled it to exert significant influence over its neighbors in the Middle East and Central Asia. Iran is one of the world's few countries where Shiite Muslims are a majority, and since 1979 it has been ruled by Muslim clerics as a theocracy. Many world leaders are concerned that Iran is trying to develop nuclear weapons, which would disrupt the fragile balance...

In 1948 the world witnessed an extraordinary event: the birth of Israel. After nearly 2,000 years as a stateless people scattered across the globe and frequently persecuted by the societies in which they lived-most tragically during the Holocaust of World War II-Jews finally had a homeland in Palestine, the ancestral land of the Jewish people. In the years since 1948, Israel has become the Middle East's most powerful, and most democratic, country....

The Kurds are the world's largest ethnic group without a state of their own. Most live in the mountainous region historically known as Kurdistan; however, this region, which includes parts of Turkey, Iran, Iraq, and Syria, never existed as a political entity. Under the rule of others, the Kurds were discriminated against and sometimes persecuted, so the dream of a national home holds a powerful grip on the Kurdish imagination. Many Kurds hope that...

When the British Empire partitioned its Indian colony in 1947, it created two independent states: India, where most residents were Hindus, and Pakistan, where most were Muslims. Violence immediately broke out, during which approximately 250,000 people were killed and a million others became refugees. Since then Pakistan and India have fought several wars and there have been numerous tensions along their borders, particularly in the disputed region...

Saudi Arabia is one of the most important states in the Middle East, as well as the larger Muslim world. The birthplace of Islam's prophet, Muhammad, the kingdom is also home to some of that religion's most sacred places, including the holy cities of Mecca and Medina. As custodian of key Islamic traditions, Saudi Arabia enjoys a leading status among its Muslim neighbors. But as the world's largest exporter of oil, it also has forged strong relationships...

The modern Republic of Turkey, which emerged from the ruins of the Ottoman Empire after World War I, is unusual among the nations of the Middle East. It is a democracy in a region where most rulers are autocrats. It is a Muslim country that enforces strict separation between religion and public life. Turkey is also among the most western-aligned states in the Middle East. It is the only Muslim state to be part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization...