The Iraqi state that was formed in the aftermath of the First World War has come to an end. Its successor state is struggling to be born in an environment of crises and chaos.- Ali Allawi, Iraq's defence minister Allawi is not exaggerating. The disastrous American invasion of Iraq that has led to the destruction of the Iraqi state, and the subsequent defeat of US military power has finally destabilised the entire Middle East - a region that has been tightly controlled by European and American powers and that has changed little, politically, in 40 years. But, in losing the war in Iraq, the USA has lost the will to maintain the status quo in the Middle East, and the forces unleashed by the destruction of Iraq will go on to shape the future of the region in a way that no-one can predict. As Gwynne Dyer argues in The Mess They Made, the Middle East is about to change fundamentally, and everything is now up for grabs- regimes, ethnic pecking-orders within states, even national borders themselves are liable to change without notice. Five years from now there could be an Islamic Republic of Arabia, an independent Kurdistan, a Muslim cold war between Sunnis and Shias, almost anything you care to imagine. Written with clarity, intelligence, and Dyer's trademark dark humour, The Mess They Madeis essential reading for anyone wanting an informed historical perspective on the future of one of the most important and volatile regions in the world.