An essential, bipartisan deep-dive into the Middle East's most persistent crises, where Michael Rubin and a roster of leading policy experts move beyond the failed autopilot of Arab-Israeli peace talks, counterterrorism, and human rights rhetoric to expose the real drivers of instability—crony capitalism, inequality, sectarian fault lines, and youth extremism—reshaping how policymakers and scholars understand the region's future. 

For decades, US foreign policy in the Middle East has been on autopilot: Seek Arab-Israeli peace, fight terrorism, and urge regimes to respect human rights. Every US administration puts its own spin on these initiatives, but none has successfully resolved the region’s fundamental problems. In Seven Pillars: What Really Causes Instability in the Middle East? a bipartisan group of leading experts representing several academic and policy disciplines unravel the core causes of instability in the Middle East and North Africa. Why have some countries been immune to the Arab Spring? Which governments enjoy the most legitimacy and why? With more than half the region under 30 years of age, why does education and innovation lag? How do resource economies, crony capitalism, and inequality drive conflict? Are ethnic and sectarian fault lines the key factor, or are these more products of political and economic instability? And what are the wellsprings of extremism that threaten not only the United States but, more profoundly, the people of the region?