Wars of Ambition: The United States, Iran, and the Struggle for the Middle East

by Afshon Ostovar

A gripping narrative history of one of the most complex and important conflicts in the world--the battle to dominate the Middle East regional order, from 2003 to the present

When President George W. Bush took office in January 2001, America's influence in the Middle East was relatively strong, and adversarial states were largely marginalized and contained. The September 11 attacks upended all of this and prompted the Bush administration's bold plan to remake the Middle East through a war in Iraq. By bringing liberal democracy to Iraq, Bush hoped that the country would be a springboard for the spread of democracy to neighboring authoritarian states. Yet the vast disruption that the war caused created an opportunity for Iran to advance its own opposing ambitions. Iran strove to turn the Middle East into a bastion of resistance to Western hegemony and bring Israel to heel. The resulting clash over the future regional order not only intensified the Iraq war, it reverberated in states across the region. With the Arab Spring and the outbreak of new conflicts, the US-Iranian showdown became entwined in a much more complex struggle, one which drew in other
regional and foreign powers that all pursued differing agendas. Emerging from the chaos was an empowered Iran and an unsettled regional paradigm in which the nominally pro-Western states of the region had begun to recalibrate their relations with Washington even as they welcomed deeper roles for its key Russia and China.

In Wars of Ambition , Afshon Ostovar explores the evolution of the long and metastasizing conflict as it unfolded over a span of more than two decades. Not just a sweeping account of the dynamic interaction between America's Middle East policies and ambitious regional states on the receiving end, it also provides a powerful analysis of conflicting visions of the future that transcend regional politics. With Iran's rise and its revisionist campaign running in concert with those of Russia and China, the contest for the Middle East has become a microcosm of a larger geopolitical battle between those aiming to preserve the American-led global order and those seeking to overturn it. Ostovar's vivid history of this enormously complex conflict shows how the battle for the Middle East reflects the politics and dividing lines of an emergent multipolar world.

Genres: Iran, Politics, History

360 pages, Hardcover

Published August 1, 2024

Reviews

[Yousif · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good book that encompasses very recent history. Looks at the Middle East through Iran-US relations. Prefer black wave (Saudi-Iran relations) but still really good

[Morad · Rating 1 out of 5]

If Vanguard of the Imam laid the groundwork for this perspective, Wars of Ambition is the full-blown policy-friendly take—Iran as the Middle East’s primary antagonist, the U.S. as the level-headed broker, and every other actor either incidental or absolved. Vanguard was the intellectual setup; Wars of Ambition is the blunt-force conclusion. What began in Vanguard as a careful reframing of Iran’s history through a Western lens finds its inevitable next step here—dropping all pretense of balance in favor of outright narrative engineering.

Ostovar’s latest is a one-sided take that puts Iran at the center of every crisis in the Middle East while conveniently brushing aside the role of other players in stoking the fire. Israel is rarely cast as an antagonist, and the U.S. glides through as the rational peacekeeping force, while Middle Eastern actors are treated exactly as they always are in neo-con think tank narratives—chaotic, autocratic fanatics, lacking the grace and reason of the so-called civilized world. That is, until they allegedly saw the light and aligned with Israel.

Oh, bless the great lords of an arbitrary map for further helping define us to ourselves.