NAZIS, ISLAMISTS, AND THE MAKING OF THE MODERN MIDDLE EAST

This is the most comprehensive account yet of the dangerous alliance between the Swastika and the Crescent, whose impact has persisted to the present day. A remarkable story told for the first time.

During the 1930s and 1940s a unique and lasting political alliance was forged between the German Third Reich, Arab nationalists and Muslim religious leaders. From this relationship sprang most of the German espionage operations in the Middle East, a clandestine plot to turn over Iraq and Egypt to the German army, and other dramatic events that were central to World War II, but which have remained largely secret to this day. Rubin and Schwanitz reveal, for example, the full scope of Palestinian leader Amin al?Husaini’s support of Hitler’s genocidal plans against European and Middle Eastern Jews. In addition, they expose the extent of Germany’s long?term promotion of Islamism and jihad. Drawing on unprecedented research in European, American, and Middle East archives, many recently opened and never before written about, the authors offer new insight on the intertwined development of Nazism and Islamism and its impact on the modern Middle East. Barry Rubin is director of the Global Research in International Affairs Center of the Interdisciplinary Center, Israel. He is the author of many books and publishes frequently on Middle East topics. He lives in Tel Aviv, Israel. Middle East historian Wolfgang G. Schwanitz is visiting professor at the Global Research in International Affairs Center of the Interdisciplinary Center, Israel, and an associate fellow at the Middle East Forum of Pennsylvania. He has authored several books on the history and politics of the Middle East. His articles have appeared widely and he contributes to European papers like Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Süddeutsche Zeitung, Die Welt, and Frankfurter Rundschau. He lives in New Jersey.