The book War in the Gardens of Babylon. Middle East after the Iraqi War published in 2004 by TASAM – Turkish Asian Center for Strategic Studies – edited by Bülent ARAS, is a collection of different perspectives on a number of serious Middle Eastern problems. Bülent Aras compiled articles of outstanding authors explaining the aftermath of September 11 terror attacks and Iraqi War.

The eastern Mediterranean and the Gulf region remain an extremely turbulent and unstable neighborhood, where a “Hobbesian“ security environment prevails. There is a general failure of governance and a long list of frequently interacting – and in some cases interconnected – security problems, including several protracted conflicts (1). However, there have been notable exceptions where regional powers have strengthened, and new actors have emerged, driven primarily by economic motivations.