I want to learn more about the middle east, specifically how each modern country has developed and their complicated relationships with each other. I understand this is a daunting task but I do have a degree in history and am very willing to put the work in, just looking for some solid sources to get my foot in the door. Any help would be appreciated!
The Modern Middle East: A History by James Gelvin.
State, power and politics in the making of the modern Middle East by Roger Owen
Those are two common places to start. Eric Zürcher’s Turkey and Eugene Rogan’s the Arabs and Şükrü Hanioğlu’s Brief history fo the late Ottoman Empire and A History of Iran: Empire of the Mind by Michael Axworthy and The Rise and Fall of Arab Presidents for Life by Roger Owen and Righteous Victims: A History of the Zionist-Arab Conflict: 1881-2001 by Benny Morris are perhaps the places to look next. There’s also a good older book by two authors specifically about economic development that I also want to recommend but I am blanking on its name (though Gelvin also does a lot of economics).