American Orientalism : The United States and the Middle East since 1945

by LITTLE DOUGLAS

• ISBN13: 9780807827376
• ISBN10: 0807827371
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2002-10-01
• Publisher: Univ of North Carolina Pr

Summary

With the events of September 2001, America's relationship with the Middle East exploded to the forefront of our national consciousness. Looking back more than a half-century, Douglas Little offers valuable, historical context for anyone seeking a better understanding of this complicated relationship. He explores the encounters between the United States and the Middle East since 1945, focusing particularly on the complex, sometimes inconsistent attitudes and interests that have shaped U.S. relations in the region. Little begins by exposing the persistence of "orientalist" stereotypes in American popular culture and then examines U.S. policy toward the Middle East from many angles. Chapters focus on America's increasing dependence on petroleum; U.S.-Israeli relations; the threat of communism; the rise of revolutionary nationalist movements in Egypt, Iran, Iraq, and Libya; the futility of U.S. military and covert intervention; and the unsuccessful attempt to broker a "peace-for-land" settlement between the Israelis and the Palestinians. The overarching theme of the book is that a combination of American omnipotence and profound cultural misunderstanding ensured that the United States would encounter trouble in the Middle East after 1945 and continues to bedevil the relationship between these vastly different cultures to the present day.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	ix
Abbreviations	xiii
Introduction Gideon's Band in the Holy Land: We're Not in Kansas Anymore	1	(8)
Orientalism, American Style: The Middle East in the Mind of America	9	(34)
Opening the Door: Business, Diplomacy, and America's Stake in Middle East Oil	43	(34)
The Making of a Special Relationship: America and Israel	77	(40)
A Tale of Four Doctrines: U.S. National Security, the Soviet Threat, and the Middle East	117	(40)
Sympathy for the Devil?: America, Nasser, and Arab Revolutionary Nationalism	157	(36)
Modernizing the Middle East: From Reform to Revolution in Iraq, Libya, and Iran	193	(36)
Kicking the Vietnam Syndrome: Waging Limited War from the Mediterranean to the Persian Gulf	229	(38)
Opportunities Lost and Found: The United States and the Arab-Israeli Peace Process	267	(40)
Conclusion Fool's Errand or Kodak Moment?: America and the Middle East at the Dawn of the Twenty-first Century	307	(12)
Notes	319	(46)
Bibliography	365	(24)
Index	389