Writing from a distinctly Zionist perspective worried that the so-called "Arab Spring" is leading to an "Islamic Winter" in which "clouds of tension and war would gather over the skies of the Middle East as incitement and jihad rise to new heights, directed against the West and, more specifically, Israel" and disdainful of the "artificial distinction" between "moderate Islam and extreme Islam," (and deeply critical of the Western powers' abandonment of long-time autocratic clients in the region due to what he sees an illusory notion that this could lead to democracy and stability), Israeli (Islamic, Chinese, and Middle Eastern studies, Hebrew U. of Jerusalem, Israel) vents those concerns by combining two approaches to describing the nature of rule in the Arab Islamic world. First he provides an overview of what he sees as the key historical contexts for understanding the possible contours of Arab/Islamic rule in the region: tribalism and the artificial nature of the region's states, the heritage of the Ottoman Empire, authoritarian rule, the ideal of the Caliphate, and media and information globalization. This is followed by a country-by-country discussion examining the political cultures and possibilities for stability and democracy of individual states, grouped according to a classification system grouping the countries as tribal, Shi'ite, revolutionary, monarchical, or republican. Annotation ©2013 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)