The 33 chapters of this book can be read in various ways: as chronicles focused on the political, diplomatic, ideological, and military developments of recent years in the Middle East, as a psychography of the region, as narratives aimed at shedding light on the recurring patterns of our fluid era.

The different style and purpose of writing the texts – some scientific, intended for conferences, some with a journalistic touch, others crafted as book introductions – allow these chapters to highlight different aspects of the historical events and phenomena they examine.

War in Gaza, the withdrawal of Americans from Afghanistan, fluctuations in Iranian domestic politics, the end of Islamic fundamentalism, Erdoğan's autocracy in Turkey, the various phases of Greek-Turkish relations, all are addressed through the lens of memory and through the magnifying glass of history.