Obama and the Middle East: The End of America's Moment?

The ever-shifting geopolitical, cultural, military, and religious dynamics of America's engagement with the Middle East is optimal ground for serious inquiry in this thoughtful examination of America's standing in the region. Gerges (The Rise and Fall of Al-Qaeda), chair of the Middle Eastern Center at the London School of Economics, deftly condenses many years%E2%80%94from the Eisenhower Doctrine, to the origin of America's "special relationship" with Israel, to the Arab Spring%E2%80%94into an easily digestible history rife with spot-on analysis. His historical investigation into America's mercurial relationships with the region's dictators%E2%80%94e.g., in the case of Saddam Hussein, going from preventing a UN investigation into his use of chemical weapons to handing him over to the Iraqi Special Tribunal, which found him guilty of crimes against humanity%E2%80%94is juxtaposed with an honest and thorough analysis of how President Obama "has shown no desire to alter the dominant foreign policy narrative on the Middle East." The book is a strong and informative primer on American involvement in the Middle East, but Gerges misses his chance to offer up concrete solutions, beyond positing that Obama must "take risks on people's aspirations for open and representative government" and "seize the moment and%E2%80%A6structurally reorient American foreign policy." Announced first printing: 50,000. (May)