The Middle East, always a cauldron of political instability and religious strife, in recent years has become ever more dangerous. The problems are numerous and varied, including a widening Sunni-Shia religious divide, the rise of the terrorist group ISIS which threatens the region while transporting its message of hatred into Europe and beyond, the ascendancy of Iran as a regional force, Russian military intervention in Syria and the loosening of US ties to former allies Israel, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. In the Middle East, these events have created an age of hatred. These factors also are transforming the Middle East into a hydra-headed threat to US and Western interests, posing a series of policy challenges that have yet to be fully articulated. In this landmark book, Caravelli and Foresi take a comprehensive, unvarnished and objective look at the political, military and cultural factors that are creating the new Middle East.