Salman Nugraha

East Asia’s Strategic Advantage in the Middle East succeeds in presenting an overview of the opportunities for both regions to forgea deeper partnership. Azad articulately examines the historical facts and compellingly presents the prospects for strategic partnerships. The caveats mentioned above suggest the need for further attentiveness to the nuances of the Middle East’s volatile complexity, and more detailed consideration of the part East Asia may wish to play there –specifically how it will differentiate its involvement from that of the West as relations between the regions evolve. Nonetheless, the book deserves appreciation for filling the gap in the knowledge of strategic relations between two important regions that are often overlooked in the global political discourse. The book will be a great benefit to anyone interested in Middle Eastern and/or Asian politics.