Christopher Davidson is a Reader in Middle East Politics at Durham University.

Introduction

1 Counter-revolution - A Pattern Emerges

Lessons from the past - nothing is new

Lessons from the past - the preventive counter-revolutions

Britain's hungry empire

The threat from Arab nationalism

Trouble on the Arabian Peninsula - revolution reaches Yemen

The contagion spreads - the Sultanate of Oman

The smaller sheikhdoms - preventive measures

2 Cold War, Oil War - America Takes Over

America's even hungrier empire

America's global counter-revolution

America's Middle East - special treatment for a special case

Removing the rivals - Iranian democracy

Removing the rivals - taking on the Arabs

Strengthening the status quo - the arms trade

Strengthening the status quo - military bases

Strengthening the status quo - mercenaries

3 The Road to al-Qaeda - The CIA's Baby

Searching for an Islamic state - Britain's caliphate

Searching for an Islamic state - Wahhabism and the Muslim Brotherhood

Mobilizing jihad - the case of Afghanistan

Operation Cyclone - Anglo-American jihad

Foreign fighters, foreign cash

The Islamic Republic of Iran - a secret relationship

4 Allied to Jihad - Useful Idiots

The Taliban - America's new ally

Keeping bin Laden on board

The war against Serbia - Bosnian jihad

The war against Serbia - Kosovan jihad

The Libyan Islamic Fighting Group - Britain's new ally

The road to 9/11 - managing blowback

9/11 - saving Saudi Arabia

9/11 - protecting the funding networks

The fake 'War on Terror' - Afghanistan

The fake 'War on Terror' - Iraq

5 The Arab Spring - A System Threatened

A new challenge, a new hope

The road to 2011 - regimes in decay

Tunisia - the Jasmine Revolution

Egypt - the Republic of Tahrir

Yemen - revolution in Arabia

Breaking the fear barrier - a chance for cosmopolitanism

The economic storm - enter neo-liberalism

The economic storm - the rise of crony capitalism

The economic storm - the rise of Gulf capitalism

From modernizing Arabs to revolutionary Arabs

Cosmopolitan communications - from satellites to social media

6 Plan 'A' - Islamists Versus the Deep State

The need for counter-revolution

Egypt - back to the Brotherhood

Egypt - an uneasy alliance

Egypt - military dictatorship

Egypt - 'Sisi mania'

Egypt - the Qatar connection

Egypt - Saudi Arabia takes on the Brotherhood

Tunisia - under pressure

Tunisia - sleepwalking to counter-revolution

Yemen - outmanoeuvring the Arab Spring

Bahrain - the forgotten revolution

7 Plan 'B' - A Fake Arab Spring

Containable protests

Axis against axis - faking the Arab Spring

Libya - Gaddafi's strange regime

Libya - flirting with neo-liberalism

Libya - not so supplicant

Libya - the uprising

Libya - subverting the National Transitional Council

Libya - NATO takes action

Libya - an international crime

Libya - the scramble for assets

Libya - a role for al-Qaeda

Libya - searching for a Sisi

Syria - parallel plans

Syria - the uprising begins

Syria - preparing for intervention

Syria - enter the proxies

Syria - arming the rebels

Syria - searching for the 'red line'

Syria - back to the battlefield

Syria - the media war

Yemen - a painful intervention

Yemen - bringing back al-Qaeda

8 Enter the Islamic State - A Phantom Menace

Al-Qaeda's limits

The need for 'national jihadists'

Iraq - the incubation chamber

Iraq - the emerging Islamic State

Iraq - the proto-caliphate

The Islamic State - mysterious new leadership

The Islamic State - a persuasive ideology

Opportunities in Syria

Expansion in Iraq

The caliphate restored

The resurrection of Saddam Hussein

'Remaining and expanding' - services and recruitment

'Remaining and expanding' - masters of propaganda

9 The Islamic State - A Strategic Asset

Qui bono - to whose profit?

The manufacturing of evil - the new bogeyman

The business of evil - a history of cashing in

The business of evil - the arms industry bonanza

Surprise, surprise - the Islamic State came from nowhere

The strangest road to war

A campaign of contradictions

Explaining failure - the official line

Suspicions mount - challenging the narrative

Follow the money - the self-funding narrative

Follow the money - the Islamic State's funders

Funders need facilitators - the role of Turkey

10 The Islamic State - A Gift That Keeps Giving

The return of the 'War on Terror'

The Islamic State in Libya

The Islamic State in Yemen

The fight for Mali

Boko Haram - Nigeria under attack

Boko Haram - the shift to the Islamic State

Boko Haram - generous sponsors

Boko Haram - delivering results

Beyond Panetta - other pledges to the Islamic State

Russia and China - superpower implications

Epilogue - Keeping the Wheel Turning

Getting business back to usual

The exploitation of Egypt

Wild card number one - opening up Iran

A new Iran, a new sectarian war

Wild card number two - American oil

A new Saudi Arabia, a new chapter

Notes

Index