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Scholars of Middle Eastern studies in the last decade often were preoccupied with two major problems. First, the democratization that has spread over most of the globe seems to have missed the Middle East. Second, there appears to be a growing gap between international relations and comparative politics theory, on the one hand, and Middle East studies, on the other. In seeking to explain why, some point to the highly politicized scholarship that can still be found in Middle East studies. Others argue that the theorists simply have not tried hard enough to fit the special nature of the Middle East into their theoretical models, or that Middle Eastern scholars have not tried hard enough to deal with theory. Two of the three books under review, by Hansen and Heydemann, do a great deal to narrow the gap between theory and reality in the Middle East. The book by Niblock is an example of the kind of highly politicized scholarship that is still found too often in Middle Eastern studies.

In an outgrowth of his doctoral dissertation, Talal Nizameddin, now a lecturer at Haigazian
University in Beirut, discusses the evolution of Russian foreign policy toward the Middle East
under Boris Yeltsin from the collapse of the Soviet Union in December 1991 until 1997. The
book, based in part on extensive interviews in Moscow, seeks to show how Russian policy
evolved from what the author describes as the "radical pro-West" view of Foreign
Minister Andrei Kozyrev in the early 1990s to the more nationalist view of Yevgeny Primakov in
the mid- to late 1990s. In general, Nizameddin succeeds in his task, although his failure to
evaluate critically some of the comments given to him by his interviewees in Moscow, such as
Vitaly Naumkin, and the clearly anti-United States and anti-Israel perspective with which the
book is written detract from the value of the study.

The disintegration of the Soviet Union occurred roughly ten years ago, & one year ago, Vladimir Putin succeeded Boris Yeltsin as president of the most important successor state to the Soviet Union, the Russian Federation. After this time period an evaluation of Russian politics in the Middle East during the last ten years seems appropriate. The author analyzes the essentials of Russian policy in the Middle East in the era of Yeltsin & examines well beyond that, insofar as there were directional changes under Putin after he was elected president of the Russian Federation in March of 2000. A general overview of Russia's foreign policy with regard to the Middle East is followed by individual country studies of Iran, Iraq, Turkey & Israel, in which it becomes clear that Russian politics are determined by various & often competitive directions. C. Houle

After exploring the major changes in Russian foreign policy during Yeltsin's presideny, the article analyzes Russia's three most important regional relationships - Iran, Iraq, and Turkey -, and concludes with an evaluation of the main Middle Eastern challenges facing Yeltsin's successor, Vladimir Putin. Whether Putin will be able to revitalize Russia so that it could play a more important role in the region is - as the author sees it - a very open question. (DÜI-Hns)

This book is a most welcome addition to the literature on Russian–Israeli relations. Although Yaacov Ro⊃i, in his study Soviet Decision Making in Practice: The USSR and Israel 1947–1954 (New Brunswick, N.J.: Transaction Books, 1980), covered the 1947–53 period thoroughly, and although there is an extensive body of literature on Russian policy toward Israel (and the rest of the Middle East) after the 1967 war, a gap has existed for many years in the scholarly coverage of Russian–Israeli relations from the death of Stalin in March 1953 until the June 1967 Six Day War. Yosef Govrin, a retired Israeli Foreign Office official who specialized in relations with the USSR, has gone a long way toward filling this gap. Having the advantage of access to the Israeli archives and internal political debates, Govrin presents a balanced picture of the Soviet–Israeli relationship, pointing out where, in his opinion, both Israel and the USSR made mistakes in developing their ties. He also goes into great detail on the question of Soviet Jewry (more than half of the book), noting how Israel's efforts to get the Soviet government to allow Jews to emigrate to Israel was a serious complicating factor in the relationship, although the primary cause for the USSR's breaking of diplomatic relations with Israel in June 1967 (Govrin was first secretary of the Israeli embassy in Moscow at the time) stemmed from Moscow's backing of the radical Ba⊃athist regime in Syria, which helped precipitate the 1967 war.