Three main themes are explored in this book, first published in 1984: the first is the problem of religion and politics as a major and long-standing preoccupation of Middle-easterners or Arab Muslims themselves; the second is that of the conflict-ridden inter-Arab and regional politics, approached largely from a local rather than an international perspective; the third deals with Egypt. The book also enquires into the nature of rule and regimes in the Middle East, the basis of authority and the arrangements for the organisation, exercise and use of power. Drawing examples from Egypt and the Fertile Crescent, the emphasis is on the relation between tradition and politics, historical evolution and state policy, domestic factors and external constraints.