Books
I've been reading Bernard Lewis's The Shaping of the Modern Middle East. Here's an interesting quote:

“Of all the great movements that have shaken the Middle East during the last century and a half, the Islamic movements alone are authentically Middle Eastern in inspiration...the religious ideologies alone sprang from the native soil and expressed the passions of the submerged masses of the population. Time and again, the fundamentalists have shown, against all their competitors, that theirs are the most effective slogans and symbols, theirs the most intelligible and appealing discourse...the religious movements can still release direct immensely powerful pent-up emotions and give expression to deeply held aspirations. Aspirations are not programs, and the fundamentalists in office have so far shown themselves no better equipped than their predecessors either to solve the problems of their societies or to resist the temptations of power. But although these movements have so far been defeated or deflected, they have not yet spoken their last word.”