Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction -- Global Middle East / Asef Bayat and Linda Herrera -- God / Ebrahim Moosa -- Algebra, alcehmy, astronomy / Robert Morrison -- Rumi, the bridge builder / Fatemeh Keshavarz -- On nations without borders / Hamid Dabashi -- Reflectins on exile / Edward Said -- Mo Salah, a moral somebody? / Amro Ali -- Gamal Abdel Nasser / Khaled Fahmy -- Circuits of food and cuisine / Sami Zubaida -- Pictures in motion / Kamran Rastegar -- Musical journeys / Michael Frishkopf -- The Kufiyya / Ted Swedenburg -- Water of vulnerability / Jeannie Sowers -- Cycle of oil and arms / Timothy Mitchell -- Cotton, made in Egypt / Ahmed Shokr -- Ports of the Persian Gulf / Laleh Khalili -- Touring exotic lands / Waleed Hazbun -- Outsiders of the oil states / Ahmed Kanna -- The Levant in Latin America / John Tofik Karam -- Global Tahrir / Asef Bayat -- Islamizing radicalism / Olivier Roy -- Global movement for Palestine / Ilan Feldman -- Human rights, indigenous and imperial / Lori Allen -- Cosmopolitan Middle East? : an interview with Seyla Benhabib / Linda Herrera.

"Localities, countries, and regions always develop in complex interaction with others. This volume highlights the global interconnectedness of the Middle East. It delves into the region's scientific, artistic, economic, political, religious, and intellectual formations and traces how they have taken shape through a dynamic set of encounters and exchanges. Written in short and accessible essays by among the most prominent experts on the region, the volume covers topics including God, Rumi, food, film, fashion, music, sports, science, and the flow of people, goods, and ideas. It tackles social and political movements from human rights, Salafism, and cosmopolitanism to radicalism and revolutions"-- Provided by publisher.