A War of Words

Yasir Suleiman is Professor of Arabic and Middle Eastern Studies, and Director of the Edinburgh Institute for the Advanced Study of the Arab World and Islam at the University of Edinburgh. His publications include The Arabic Language and National Identity: A Study in Ideology (2003) and The Arabic Grammatical Tradition: a Study in Ta'liil (1999).

• 1. Introduction; 2. Language, power and conflict in the Middle East; 3. When language and dialects collide: standard Arabic and its 'opponents'; 4. When dialects collide: on the banks of the River Jordan; 5. When languages collide: between the River Jordan and the Mediterranean sea; 6. Language and conflict in the Middle East: a conclusion.

'Yasir Suleiman's book is a seminal work on the linguistic situation in the Middle East, its socio-political and cultural roots, and its implications for nationhood and the study of conflict. This is a well-crafted, well organized, and eloquent book. ' Karin Ryding, Georgetown University