In case you're interested in the subject, The New York Times Magazine for August 14 — coincidentally the 71st anniversary of VJ Day — has devoted an entire issue to same:

Fractured Lands: How the Arab World Came Apart

From the editor-in-chief's introduction:
"It is unprecedented for us to focus so much energy and attention on a single story, and to ask our readers to do the same. We would not do so were we not convinced that what follows is one of the most clear-eyed, powerful and human explanations of what has gone wrong in this region that you will ever read."