The Middle East and the United States

by Lesch, David W.; Haas, Mark L.

• ISBN13: 9780813345291
• ISBN10: 0813345294
• Edition: 5th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-08-02
• Publisher: Westview Pr

Summary

This acclaimed book brings together scholars and diplomats from the Middle East, Europe, and North America to provide an objective, cross-cultural assessment of U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East. This fifth edition has been substantially revised with greater emphasis on current events, including the policies of the Obama administration, Islamist perceptions of U.S. involvement in the Middle East, and the U.S. relationship with Israel, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Afghanistan. Updated throughout, this edition also features five new chapters on the superpowers and the Middle East throughout the Cold War; the Bush and Obama administrations and the Arab#x13;Israeli conflict; contemporary U.S.#x13;Syrian relations; the importance of ideology to U.S.#x13;Iranian relations under the last three administrations; and U.S. relations with Al Qaeda.

Author Biography

David w. Lesch is professor of Middle East history in the Department of History at Trinity University. Dr. Lesch is the author of a number of books on the Middle East, including 1979: The Year That Shaped the Modern Middle East, The New Lien of Damascus: Bashar al-Asad and Modern Syria, and The Arab-Israeli Conflict: A History. Mark L. Haas is associate professor in the Political Science Department and the Graduate Center for Social and Public Policy al Duquesne University in Pittsburgh. He is the author of The Ideological Origins of Great Power Politics, 1789-1989 and Ideologies and American Security in the Middle East.

Table of Contents

Preface to the Fifth Edition	p. xi
Note on the Text	p. xiii
Map of the Middle East	p. xiv
Introduction	p. 1
From Idealism to Realism: Wilsonian Intent to Cold War Practice
The Ironic Legacy of the King-Crane Commission	p. 15
The ôAmbassador for the Arabsö: The Locke Mission and the Unmaking of US Development Diplomacy in the Near East, 1952-1953	p. 33
US Foreign Policy Toward Iran During the Mussadiq Era	p. 55
The Mussadiq Era in Iran, 1951-1953: A Contemporary Diplomats View	p. 70
National Security Concerns in US Policy Toward Egypt, 1949-1956	p. 79
The Perils of Ambiguity: The United States and the Baghdad Pact	p. 90
The 1957 American-Syrian Crisis: Globalist Policy in a Regional Reality	p. 111
The United States and Nasserist Pan-Arabism	p. 128
The Soviet Perception of the US Threat	p. 148
The Superpowers and the Cold War in the Middle East	p. 157
Arab-Israeli War and Peace
The 1967 Arab-Israeli War: US Actions and Arab Perceptions	p. 177
Flawed Strategies and Missed Signals: Crisis Bargaining Between the Superpowers, October 1973	p. 197
The United States and Israel: The Nature of a Special Relationship	p. 220
From Madrid and Oslo to Camp David: The United States and the Arab-Israeli Conflict, 1991-2001	p. 244
George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and the Arab-Israeli Conflict	p. 262
Fight or Talk: US-Syrian Relations Since 2000	p. 294
Allies and Enemies in the Gulf and Beyond
Americans and the Muslim World-First Encounters	p. 315
The United States in the Persian Gulf: From Twin Pillars to Dual Containment	p. 327
From ôOver the Horizonö to ôInto the Backyardö: The US-Saudi Relationship in the Gulf	p. 344
The Iraq War of 2003: Why Did the United States Decide to Invade?	p. 359
What Went Wrong in Iraq?	p. 379
The Push and Pull of Strategic Cooperation: The US Relationship with Turkey in the Middle East	p. 394
The United States and Afghanistan: From Marginality to Strategic Concern	p. 412
Ideology and Iran's American Policies, 1997-2008	p. 434
Is It Time for the United States to Give Up on Arab Liberals?	p. 456
Islamist Perceptions of US Policy in the Middle East	p. 467
US Relations with al-Qa'ida	p. 491
New US Policies for a New Middle East?	p. 507
About the Editors and Contributors	p. 519
Index	p. 523
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