The study of Middle Eastern politics at the college level in the United States is fraught with difficulties for both instructor and student alike. For the student, the subject is almost always entirely unfamiliar and too full of details to be grasped let alone mastered in one term or semester. Instability and political turmoil in the area add to the complicated picture. The instructor’s task is mainly to help the student overcome these difficulties. He has to provide adequate organization of the disparate material and relate it to the frame of mind the student already has about politics.