The Road to Tahrir Square: Egypt and the United States from the Rise of Nasser to the Fall of Mubarak

Gardner, professor of history at Rutgers (The Long Road to Baghdad), chronicles the U.S. and Egypt’s 20th-century entanglements with concision and clarity. After WWII and the retreat of British colonial influence in the Middle East, American diplomats identified Egypt as a crucial partner in the region. Administration after administration operated from the basic policy principle that “a strong Egypt meant a strong Middle East.” Using the “carrot and stick” approach, the U.S. provided economic aid, military support, and CIA interference to promote stability and pliability in the Egyptian government, while largely ignoring the regime’s repression of the Egyptian people. In workmanlike prose, Gardner describes the U.S.’s involvement in the negotiations over the fragile peace between Egypt and Israel, and tells of Egypt’s role in the “war on terror.” Pointing out the essential contradiction of our promoting a democratic Iraq while supporting Mubarak’s repressive regime, Gardner concludes that the popular revolutions of the Arab spring are the only logical outcome of decades of American doublespeak. The book is a thought-provoking distillation of the convoluted dealings between diplomats and governments that calls for a new tack, in which American actions finally match our rhetoric. (Oct.)