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World of Trouble
The White House and the Middle East—from the Cold War to the War on Terror The Middle East is the beginning and the end of U.S. foreign policy: events there influence our alliances, make or break presidencies, govern the price of oil, and draw us into war. But it was not always so—and as Patrick Tyler shows in this thrilling chronicle of American misadventures in the ...more
Paperback, 656 pages
Published
February 16th 2010
by Farrar, Straus and Giroux
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This was a good book with a tremendous scope and I only wonder how it compares to Quicksand by Geoffrey Wawro (which is also new). I'm sure there is plenty for everyone to disagree with esp. in a book about the Middle East where every word has tremendous meaning and more content than an entire encyclopedia. A very fair book and author IMHO.
I only wish more Americans actually knew the history of the region/conflict rather than the snippets on TV or what they think they know. It would help tremend...more
I only wish more Americans actually knew the history of the region/conflict rather than the snippets on TV or what they think they know. It would help tremend...more
Tyler portrays' the U.S. government's involvement in the Middle East better than anyone else. His overarching "theory"--that no single administration since Eisenhower, when concerted U.S. involvement in the region began, has enunciated or implemented a coherent regional grand strategy--is revealed through amazing insights into the complicated dealings between U.S. administrations and the forces they confronted across the region.
This book doesn't overlook any details (which ...more
This book doesn't overlook any details (which ...more
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History is slave to the perspectives of those who write it. Different historians come to such widely varying conclusions about the events, the personalities, and the lesson learned that the general reader can be, in the end, misled about the true historical meaning of a particular period. For that very reason I've come to think that the way to discover the truth, or an acceptable truth, is to simultaneously read more than one book on a subject. In the last couple of years, with all this in mi...more
Great introduction to our role in the Middle East. Sobering. See review at RAHF
Really enjoyed this book. It traces US involvement in the Middle East from Eisenhower to George W Bush.
loved it! gave different perspectives over a long area of time! short novel...but a kepper!
Important, well-written history of US policy in the middle east over a 60 year period. It is mostly a history of US blundering. The book is especially good on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It ends abruptly with a short and superficial chapter on the George W Bush presidency and the war on terror. It is an odd ending, almost as if the author ran out of energy. Still, the book is very worthwhile reading.
Tyler looks at our foreign policy in the Middle East from Truman through 2008, and shows how inconsistent we have been, and how this inconsistency caused many problems. After Eisenhower, our policy on Israel and Palestine was a partisan one, preventing us from being honest brokers. The current crises in Iran, Afghanistan, and Iraq all can be traced back to American foreign policy decisions. This book is illuminating. It does give me hope that our current foreign policy is a wise one.
very engaging! not usually a non-fiction reader but I have always loved modern history, especially modern conflict!
Kim
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Christopher Hurtado
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