Amit Bein’s well-researched monograph introduces an alternative way of looking at Turkey’s engagement with the Middle East in the interwar period. Using a wide range of Turkish, Arabic and English archival materials, plus an abundant number of contemporary newspapers, magazines, travel accounts and memoirs, the author challenges the widely-accepted view in the secondary literature that Kemalist Turkey deliberately disengaged with its Middle Eastern neighbours and argues that this view is “a serious overstatement of the realities” (p. 240). Adopting an approach that goes beyond the state-to-state understanding of diplomatic history, this book covers not only border issues (Chapter 2), regional relations and security (Chapter 3), but also projects for transportation networks within the region (Chapter 4) and Turkey’s efforts to create a good image in the Middle East through the use of propaganda (Chapter 5 and 6).

Amit Bein’s well-researched monograph introduces an alternative way of looking at Turkey’s engagement with the Middle East in the interwar period. Using a wide range of Turkish, Arabic and English archival materials, plus an abundant number of contemporary newspapers, magazines, travel accounts and memoirs, the author challenges the widely-accepted view in the secondary literature that Kemalist Turkey deliberately disengaged with its Middle Eastern neighbours and argues that this view is “a serious overstatement of the realities” (p. 240). Adopting an approach that goes beyond the state-to-state understanding of diplomatic history, this book covers not only border issues (Chapter 2), regional relations and security (Chapter 3), but also projects for transportation networks within the region (Chapter 4) and Turkey’s efforts to create a good image in the Middle East through the use of propaganda (Chapter 5 and 6).