The Arab world s strategic location and considerable material and human potential should allow it to play a major role in world affairs. However plagued by authoritarian regimes ethnic and social cleavages economic underdevelopment and military weakness these states depend on external support for security. Hassan Hamdan al-Alkim provides a wide-ranging analysis for understanding contemporary Arab politics and its role in world affairs. Hassan Hamdan al-Alkim was born in the United Arab Emirates in 1958. He earned his PhD in political science from Exeter University United Kingdom and is professor of international relations at the United Arab Emirates University. His website is www.hhalkim.ae.