This political anthropology is the first to explicitly utilize the family as a basic conceptual tool in understanding a Middle Eastern political system. Springborg scrutinizes the familial, social, and political context of Marei's career, and discusses how the rural nobility of the late nineteenth century has used regional, family, patron-client, and small-group loyalties to maintain its power under Nasser and Sadat.

Robert Springborg is Professor of National Security Affairs at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California.