War, conflict and terrorism define the face of contemporary West Asia at popular level. However there are far more other important issues and challenges that are currently troubling the governments of West Asian nations. These include (a) political, economic and social challenges, (b) Islamic militancy, (c) growing unemployment, (d) democratic reforms, (e) human rights, (f) living conditions of expatriates, and (g) urbanization. Added to this list are environmental risks with such dimensions as overfishing, soil and water pollution by petroleum industry, scarcity of fresh water and desertification. This book -- containing 11 contributions by scholars in the field -- deals with these internal challenges of the region.