Synopses & Reviews
The 2013 updated fifth edition of the acclaimed
The Middle East and the United States brings together scholars and diplomats from the Middle East, Europe, and North America to provide an objective, cross-cultural assessment of US policy toward the Middle East. Regional experts David W. Lesch and Mark L. Haas include a new chapter dedicated to the events of the Arab Spring and its aftermath, looking with a special eye to the impact on US interactions with the region.
The text also features five new chapters discussing the superpowers and the Middle East throughout the Cold War; the Bush and Obama administrations and the Arab-Israeli conflict; contemporary US-Syrian relations; the importance of ideology to US-Iranian relations under the last three administrations; and US relations with al-Qaida.
Carefully edited and reorganized to place a greater emphasis on current events, The Middle East and the United States provides comprehensive and authoritative coverage of US foreign policy and Middle East political history from the first World War through the Arab Spring and beyond.
Review
"This book is indispensible for scholars and policymakers interested in understanding Americas past and current involvement in the Middle East. The essays are authoritative, compelling, and engaging. Collectively, they represent some of the smartest analysis on how the United States and the Middle East got where they are today."
Toby C. Jones, Rutgers University
"Historical reviews blend with modern events to provide students with an outstanding survey central to discussions and insights about the entire region."
The Midwest Book Review
"An indispensible resource for understanding contemporary US policies in the region
.This volume remains an authoritative resource for practitioners and academics, for students in courses in US foreign policy or Middle Eastern history, and for the general reading public. Highly recommended.”
Choice
Reviews from the prior edition:
"This book, the best single work dealing with the relationship between the United States and the Middle East, has been updated to include new chapters on Turkey and Afghanistan, and new material that addresses important aspects of this fraught relationship, notably the Arab-Israeli conflict and the successive crises in the Gulf. With these additions, it remains a timely and useful work."
Rashid Khalidi, Director, Center for International Studies, University of Chicago
"David Lesch is to be commended for bringing about an important contribution to the literature on United States foreign policy in the Middle East. This book belongs in every university library, and it will serve as an outstanding secondary reader for classes on United States foreign policy."
Digest of Middle East Studies
"This volume makes a solid contribution to understanding the successes and mistakes [of the United States] in this critical region. Invaluable for courses on Middle East history, politics, and international relations."
Choice
"An excellent survey of the region and a welcomed addition as a reader on courses in U.S. foreign policy or Middle Eastern history."
Journal of Third World Studies
"A welcome collection."
Foreign Affairs
Synopsis
The updated fifth edition of the acclaimed The Middle East and the United States brings together scholars and diplomats from the Middle East, Europe, and North America to provide an objective, cross-cultural assessment of U.S. policy toward the Middle East. This update includes a new chapter covering the events of the Arab Spring and after with a special eye to their impact on US interactions with the region.
Synopsis
This volume addresses the changes in the Middle East--and in the United States as well--that has significantly affected the US-Middle Eastern dynamic. It provides an objective, cross-cultural assessment of U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East.
Synopsis
Leading scholars and policy advisors provide comprehensive and authoritative coverage of historical, contemporary, and theoretical issues of US foreign policy in the Middle East, updated with a new chapter covering the events of the Arab Spring and its aftermath
About the Author
David W. Lesch is professor of Middle East history at Trinity University. Dr. Lesch is the author or editor of twelve books, including
Syria: The Fall of the House of Assad,
The Arab-Israeli Conflict: A History,
1979: The Year that Shaped the Modern Middle East, and T
he Arab Spring: Change and Resistance in the Middle East with coeditor Mark L. Haas.
Mark L. Haas is professor in the Political Science Department and the Graduate Center for Social and Public Policy at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh. He has written numerous articles and is the author or editor of four books, including The Clash of Ideologies: Middle Eastern Politics and American Security; The Ideological Origins of Great Power Politics, 1789-1989; and The Arab Spring: Change and Resistance in the Middle East with coeditor David W. Lesch.
Table of Contents
Introduction, David W. Lesch and Mark L. Haas
Part One: From Idealism to Realism: Wilsonian Intent to Cold War Practice
1. The Ironic Legacy of the King-Crane Commission, James Gelvin
2. The Ambassador for the Arabs”: The Locke Mission and the Unmaking of US Development Diplomacy in the Near East, 19521953, Paul W.T. Kingston
3. US Foreign Policy Toward Iran During the Mussadiq Era, Mark Gasiorowski
4. The Mussadiq Era in Iran, 19511953: A Contemporary Diplomats View, Sir Sam Falle
5. National Security Concerns in US Policy Toward Egypt, 19491956, Peter Hahn
6. The Perils of Ambiguity: The United States and the Baghdad Pact, Elie Podeh
7. The 1957 American-Syrian Crisis: Globalist Policy in a Regional Reality, David W. Lesch
8. The United States and Nasserist Pan-Arabism, Malik Mufti
9. The Soviet Perception of the US Threat, Georgiy Mirsky
10. The Superpowers and the Cold War in the Middle East, Rashid Khalidi
Part Two: Arab-Israeli War and Peace
11. The 1967 Arab-Israeli War: US Actions and Arab Perceptions, Fawaz A. Gerges
12. Flawed Strategies and Missed Signals: Crisis Bargaining Between the Superpowers, October 1973, Janice Gross Stein
13. The United States and Israel: The Nature of a Special Relationship, Bernard Reich and Shannon Powers
14. From Madrid and Oslo to Camp David: The United States and the Arab-Israeli Conflict, 19912001, Jeremy Pressman
15. George W. Bush, Barak Obama, and the Arab-Israeli Conflict, Robert O. Freedman
Part Three: Allies and Enemies in the Gulf and Beyond
16. Americans and the Muslim WorldFirst Encounters, Robert J. Allison
17. The United States in the Persian Gulf: From Twin Pillars to Dual Containment, Gary Sick
18. From Over the Horizon” to Into the Backyard”: The US-Saudi Relationship and the Gulf War, F. Gregory Gause III
19. The Iraq War of 2003: Why Did the United States Decide to Invade?, Steve A. Yetiv
20. What Went Wrong in Iraq?, Ali R.Abootalebi
21. The Push and Pull of Strategic Cooperation: The US Relationship with Turkey in the Middle East, Henri J. Barkey
22. The United States and Afghanistan: From Marginality to Strategic Concern, Marvin G.Weinbaum
23. Ideology and Irans American Policies, 1997-2008, Mark L. Haas
24. Is it Time for the United States to Give Up on Arab Liberals?, Jon B. Alterman
25. Islamist Perceptions of US Policy in the Middle East, Yvonne Yazbeck Haddad
26. US Relations with al-Qaida, Heather S. Gregg
27. New US Policies for a New Middle East? William B. Quandt
28. The United States and the Arab Spring: Threats and Opportunities in a Revolutionary Era, Mark L. Haas