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World of Trouble: The White House and the Middle East---From the Cold War to the War on Terror
The White House and the Middle East—from the Cold War to the War on Terror
The Middle East is the beginning and the end of U.S. foreign policy: events there influence our alliances, make or break presidencies, govern the price of oil, and draw us into war. But it was not always so, and as Patrick Tyler shows in this thrilling chronicle of American misadventures in the region, the story of American presidents' dealings there is one of mixed motives, skulduggery, deceit, and outright foolishness, as well as of policymaking and diplomacy.
Tyler draws on newly opened presidential archives to dramatize the approach to the Middle East across U.S. presidencies from Eisenhower to George W. Bush. He takes us into the Oval Office and shows how our leaders made momentous decisions; at the same time, the sweep of this narrative -- from the Suez crisis to the Iran hostage crisis to George W. Bush's catastrophe in Iraq -- lets us see the big picture as never before. Tyler tells a story of presidents being drawn into the affairs of the region against their will, being kept in the dark by local potentates, being led astray by grasping subordinates, and making decisions about the internal affairs of countries they hardly understand. Above all, he shows how each president has managed to undo the policies of his predecessor, often fomenting both anger against America on the streets of the region and confusion at home.
A World of Trouble is the Middle East book we need now: compulsively readable, free of cant and ideology, and rich in insight about the very human challenges a new president will face as he or she tries to restore America's standing in the region.
The Middle East is the beginning and the end of U.S. foreign policy: events there influence our alliances, make or break presidencies, govern the price of oil, and draw us into war. But it was not always so, and as Patrick Tyler shows in this thrilling chronicle of American misadventures in the region, the story of American presidents' dealings there is one of mixed motives, skulduggery, deceit, and outright foolishness, as well as of policymaking and diplomacy.
Tyler draws on newly opened presidential archives to dramatize the approach to the Middle East across U.S. presidencies from Eisenhower to George W. Bush. He takes us into the Oval Office and shows how our leaders made momentous decisions; at the same time, the sweep of this narrative -- from the Suez crisis to the Iran hostage crisis to George W. Bush's catastrophe in Iraq -- lets us see the big picture as never before. Tyler tells a story of presidents being drawn into the affairs of the region against their will, being kept in the dark by local potentates, being led astray by grasping subordinates, and making decisions about the internal affairs of countries they hardly understand. Above all, he shows how each president has managed to undo the policies of his predecessor, often fomenting both anger against America on the streets of the region and confusion at home.
A World of Trouble is the Middle East book we need now: compulsively readable, free of cant and ideology, and rich in insight about the very human challenges a new president will face as he or she tries to restore America's standing in the region.
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First published December 1, 2008
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
February 22, 2017
the USA fails to comprehend the Middle East and is thus condemned to react to events rather than dictating them. That's what I take away from reading this and not much more, since most of the time we're hovering over Israel and not a fly on the wall in the Oval Office. It's too recent to be declassified & Patrick Tyler doesn't have the clearance to dig up the dirt.
On the plus side, he writes what he's good at, with his vignettes about Nasser and his enduring legacy among the Arabs, the armoured carnage of the Yom Kippur war and the calmth of the Clinton administration that came before the storm. If you're already familiar with the basic facts, they come to life here. If not, see A History of the Modern Middle East.
I said hovering for a reason: a clandestine helicopter took Tyler over Halabja in the aftermath of the chemical attack that left 5000 Kurds gassed. Those few pages are easily the biggest punch.
Published in 2009, the narrative ends around 2006. It's a good cut-off date for me. The rest is in the newspapers... for now. In ten years, I'll want some fresh M.E. titles to make sense of ISIS.
On the plus side, he writes what he's good at, with his vignettes about Nasser and his enduring legacy among the Arabs, the armoured carnage of the Yom Kippur war and the calmth of the Clinton administration that came before the storm. If you're already familiar with the basic facts, they come to life here. If not, see A History of the Modern Middle East.
I said hovering for a reason: a clandestine helicopter took Tyler over Halabja in the aftermath of the chemical attack that left 5000 Kurds gassed. Those few pages are easily the biggest punch.
Published in 2009, the narrative ends around 2006. It's a good cut-off date for me. The rest is in the newspapers... for now. In ten years, I'll want some fresh M.E. titles to make sense of ISIS.
July 19, 2013
This book gives a really excellent insight into America's involvement in the Middle East from the late 40's up until the invasion of Iraq and The GWB years.
It examines and explains many seminal events that have shaped politics in the Middle East, vital for anyone with an interst in the region. From Suez, to Nasser,to Isreal, GW1 to the Gulf War and finally Iraq, the reader will gain insight into the historical past of the complex conflicts and political engagements and hence deepen their understanding of the events of the present.
Tyler's accessible style keeps the book generally free of jargon, as he writes in a straightforward journalistic style. Each section in the book corresponds to a particular time period in which important events that were happening and are presented in the context of american involvement.
I thought that this made the flow of the book much more coherant, and this way of presenting the information gave the reader a good sense of both thr chronology of events in te middle east, while linking them back to US firegin policy. Personally found it to be a very useful book, and I'm sure anyone who has studied International Relations or similar will really enjoy it on a more academic level. I recommend to anyone who is intersted in the MENA region.
It examines and explains many seminal events that have shaped politics in the Middle East, vital for anyone with an interst in the region. From Suez, to Nasser,to Isreal, GW1 to the Gulf War and finally Iraq, the reader will gain insight into the historical past of the complex conflicts and political engagements and hence deepen their understanding of the events of the present.
Tyler's accessible style keeps the book generally free of jargon, as he writes in a straightforward journalistic style. Each section in the book corresponds to a particular time period in which important events that were happening and are presented in the context of american involvement.
I thought that this made the flow of the book much more coherant, and this way of presenting the information gave the reader a good sense of both thr chronology of events in te middle east, while linking them back to US firegin policy. Personally found it to be a very useful book, and I'm sure anyone who has studied International Relations or similar will really enjoy it on a more academic level. I recommend to anyone who is intersted in the MENA region.
June 24, 2013
The problem with journalists writing large scale history is that they import so many journalistic tropes. Your story for the New York Times has to start with a half paragraph about how poor Abdul's shack is surrounded on all sides by desert and razor wire, and there are rockets whizzing overhead every fifteen minutes, and give us cod-insights into Abdul's character, and only *then* can you get to the point. So Tyler starts chapters with a couple of pages of guff about the landscape around [insert person's house here], often highly personalized ("I first met Abdul when I was in Iraq for the 1994 conference on flippant book reviewing...")... and only then gets to the point, which is an exhaustive discussion of American foreign policy and diplomacy towards the middle east (which includes Egypt, but not, for some reason, Afghanistan) between Eisenhower and Clinton, with a bit on Bush II and Obama tacked on at the end.
The other problem is that journalists write like they're private investigators, following up every lead. Whereas what people need to know can be summed up very easily, without long digressions into the character flaws of minor Israeli diplomats.
All of which is to say this book is very informative, and about 200 pages too long. The take-away, if you're after such a thing, is that the American government never does the right thing: always too much military response, or too little; too much leaning on middle eastern governments, or too little, etc etc... That obviously can't be true, but at least it's balanced. An interesting theme that he doesn't make explicit: many of the mis-steps and missed chances for peace might have been due to the soi disant democratic processes of the U.S. and Israel. If you worry more about getting re-elected than doing the best thing, you will most likely not do the best thing, and that became very clear throughout the course of this book.
Finally, the conclusion is hilarious. "Muslim youth yearns for the same personal fulfillment and opportunity as youth everywhere. They seek the same advancement in culture, science and technology that market capitalism can deliver to peoples who have been held back by dictators and the orthodoxies of the old world." A day or two after I read that I heard an analyst for Barclay's bank (I think; possibly some other bank, but definitely a bank) suggesting that the protests in Brazil are a cry from a people who has had it with restrictive government regulation. Yes. That is precisely it. Everyone wants more input from multinational corporations! Everyone! Only then can their culture advance! Nobody wants better and more government services! Not idea what made Tyler throw that idiocy at the end of an otherwise balanced and intelligent work.
The other problem is that journalists write like they're private investigators, following up every lead. Whereas what people need to know can be summed up very easily, without long digressions into the character flaws of minor Israeli diplomats.
All of which is to say this book is very informative, and about 200 pages too long. The take-away, if you're after such a thing, is that the American government never does the right thing: always too much military response, or too little; too much leaning on middle eastern governments, or too little, etc etc... That obviously can't be true, but at least it's balanced. An interesting theme that he doesn't make explicit: many of the mis-steps and missed chances for peace might have been due to the soi disant democratic processes of the U.S. and Israel. If you worry more about getting re-elected than doing the best thing, you will most likely not do the best thing, and that became very clear throughout the course of this book.
Finally, the conclusion is hilarious. "Muslim youth yearns for the same personal fulfillment and opportunity as youth everywhere. They seek the same advancement in culture, science and technology that market capitalism can deliver to peoples who have been held back by dictators and the orthodoxies of the old world." A day or two after I read that I heard an analyst for Barclay's bank (I think; possibly some other bank, but definitely a bank) suggesting that the protests in Brazil are a cry from a people who has had it with restrictive government regulation. Yes. That is precisely it. Everyone wants more input from multinational corporations! Everyone! Only then can their culture advance! Nobody wants better and more government services! Not idea what made Tyler throw that idiocy at the end of an otherwise balanced and intelligent work.
June 19, 2010
History is slave to the perspectives of those who write it. Different historians come to such widely varying conclusions about the events, the personalities, and the lesson learned that the general reader can be, in the end, misled about the true historical meaning of a particular period. For that very reason I've come to think that the way to discover the truth, or an acceptable truth, is to simultaneously read more than one book on a subject. In the last couple of years, with all this in mind, I've read 2 great blocks of books on the Vietnam War. And plan a similar reading for later this year. This curiosity about the truth led me to read Quicksand by Geoffrey Wawro and this, Tyler's A World of Trouble, together. Not surprisingly, the books have different strengths. In my opinion, Wawro's is the better history--he's a highly regarded historian and writes a more far-reaching, rounder account of America's Middle Eastern diplomacy and actions in pursuit of that diplomacy. Tyler's chronicle reads much more like an extended editorial, though just as gripping. He reinforces the 2 main themes of Middle Eastern diplomacy since World War II, the western need for oil and the state of Israel. Both determine the energy of diplomacy in the region. How presidents walk the tightrope of maintaining the flow of cheap oil to the west while dealing with the resolution of the almost constant low-intensity warfare over the existence of Israel and the adjunct issue of founding a Palestinian state defines their success or failure. Most, Tyler says, have fumbled. He's very critical of the presidents, and in his view the mistakes snowball with the years and succeeding administrations, growing more menacing and damaging to the Middle East as a whole as well as America's interests. He's quick to point out Clinton's susceptibility to the distractions of scandal, Reagan's nonchalance and focus on the Soviet Union, Carter's indecisiveness, and Bush's total lack of understanding of the forces at work there. Every administration fails to heal the wounds and stop the bleeding. Maybe the present one.... Both these books on the Middle East are penetrating, comprehensive, and compelling--even dramatic--reads. And they come to the same basic conclusions so that I feel I've arrived at a degree of truth.
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August 4, 2011This was a good book with a tremendous scope and I only wonder how it compares to Quicksand by Geoffrey Wawro (which is also new). I'm sure there is plenty for everyone to disagree with esp. in a book about the Middle East where every word has tremendous meaning and more content than an entire encyclopedia. A very fair book and author IMHO.
I only wish more Americans actually knew the history of the region/conflict rather than the snippets on TV or what they think they know. It would help tremendously. Of course, the same goes for those we elect, both to congress and to the White House...
It is a large book, but a fairly fast read considering the amount of detail and conflicting accounts. That alone makes Barr a good writer! You will find starting points to explore Gaza, the U.S.S. Liberty, Oslo, and many more. If you liked "A Peace to End All Peace: The Fall of the Ottoman Empire and the Creation of the Modern Middle East" by David Fromkin, buy this book!
I only wish more Americans actually knew the history of the region/conflict rather than the snippets on TV or what they think they know. It would help tremendously. Of course, the same goes for those we elect, both to congress and to the White House...
It is a large book, but a fairly fast read considering the amount of detail and conflicting accounts. That alone makes Barr a good writer! You will find starting points to explore Gaza, the U.S.S. Liberty, Oslo, and many more. If you liked "A Peace to End All Peace: The Fall of the Ottoman Empire and the Creation of the Modern Middle East" by David Fromkin, buy this book!
February 18, 2009
Tyler portrays' the U.S. government's involvement in the Middle East better than anyone else. His overarching "theory"--that no single administration since Eisenhower, when concerted U.S. involvement in the region began, has enunciated or implemented a coherent regional grand strategy--is revealed through amazing insights into the complicated dealings between U.S. administrations and the forces they confronted across the region.
This book doesn't overlook any details (which is quite an accomplishment, considering the subject matter). At the same time, it conveys the overarching forces at work over the decades of U.S. involvement: the Arab-Israeli and Palestinian-Israeli conflicts, containment of the USSR, the quest for stability in the Persian Gulf, and the various strands of radicalism that ebbed and flowed over the decades. In addition to the major historical pivot-points (Camp David, the Six-Day and Yom Kippur Wars, the Gulf War), Tyler focuses on some other very interesting issues: the history of U.S. involvement in Lebanon (e.g. 1958 and 1983), the special U.S.-Saudi relationship, and the transatlantic fissures caused by the 1956 Suez crisis. On top of all this, Tyler does an amazing job explaining the peacemaking efforts of the 1990s involving Clinton, Rabin, Netanyahu, Barak, and Arafat.
The only criticism, and even this was minor, was the relative inattention given to the post-9/11 period. However, considering how most of that history has yet to occur, the ommission isn't that glaring.
This book doesn't overlook any details (which is quite an accomplishment, considering the subject matter). At the same time, it conveys the overarching forces at work over the decades of U.S. involvement: the Arab-Israeli and Palestinian-Israeli conflicts, containment of the USSR, the quest for stability in the Persian Gulf, and the various strands of radicalism that ebbed and flowed over the decades. In addition to the major historical pivot-points (Camp David, the Six-Day and Yom Kippur Wars, the Gulf War), Tyler focuses on some other very interesting issues: the history of U.S. involvement in Lebanon (e.g. 1958 and 1983), the special U.S.-Saudi relationship, and the transatlantic fissures caused by the 1956 Suez crisis. On top of all this, Tyler does an amazing job explaining the peacemaking efforts of the 1990s involving Clinton, Rabin, Netanyahu, Barak, and Arafat.
The only criticism, and even this was minor, was the relative inattention given to the post-9/11 period. However, considering how most of that history has yet to occur, the ommission isn't that glaring.
April 1, 2021
Fascinating, informative, and highly engaging
This year I have been reading a lot of history on Middle Eastern politics as it relates to US foreign policy. This book is one of the very best I have read. It combines excellent research and great historical information with a fast paced, gripping narrative style. Highly recommended for both the novice reader and the ardent student of history.
This year I have been reading a lot of history on Middle Eastern politics as it relates to US foreign policy. This book is one of the very best I have read. It combines excellent research and great historical information with a fast paced, gripping narrative style. Highly recommended for both the novice reader and the ardent student of history.
June 27, 2019
Gives a very interesting insight into the last 100 years of Middle East history. Doesn’t touch on hidden background to why Presidents made certain decisions, but does provide useful hints to further lines of study. Recommended.
December 9, 2024
First of all , this is a very impressive book for a journalist to write. Journalists are human-centered and public facing. So there’s a lot of political banter and generalization but in the details are incisive commentary. I genuinely think this is s great starter for American-Middle East diplomatic history.
February 15, 2019
A very comprehensive and balanced look at American foreign policy in the Middle East. Highly recommended for anyone who wants an overview of how American presidents have led us to the unfortunate place we are at today.
June 24, 2019
Great book, fascinating read
December 6, 2020
A very long read, but it did go into some good details into each of the administrations. I did expect a little more depth into 43's presidency though. It seemed very glossed over.
June 29, 2012
This one took me a while to finish - I'd put it down, then come back to it a year or so later.
This book isn't a political book. It's really a modern history, covering the conflict between the Arabs and the Israelis in the Middle East, starting from the formation of Israel up to the end of 2008. It is a sweeping history that tells the story in a coherent form for those of us Americans who have only ever encountered it in bits and pieces from internet, video and print media.
Special attention is paid to each American president, from Eisenhower through George W. Bush, and the role they played in Mideast peace, either helping or hurting its cause. Every American president has made a major screwup in their handling of the Middle East. The reasons are many; perhaps they didn't grasp the people and politics of the region, they worked on faulty information, they lacked the will and strength to make tough decisions, they faced political problems at home. In some cases they were intentionally deceived by the Arabs, the Israelis, or even by members of their own staff. Patrick Tyler gives insightful analyses of where each president went wrong.
One thing I really appreciate about this book is that Tyler doesn't play favorites. He treats each group - Arabs, Israelis, and the Americans - with a factual, journalistic style and lets you make your own judgments as to who is in the right and wrong.
One big criticism I have of the book is that even though it is aimed at a general audience, it doesn't give readers the background tools to properly follow the narrative. I would have appreciated a map of the region, a time line, and a glossary listing the main historical players as well as organizations such as Hezbollah and Hamas. I found Wikipedia very useful to keep nearby as I read this book.
Highly recommended if you really want a good understanding of America's role in the Middle East, and why the Arab/Israeli conflict is so important to world politics.
This book isn't a political book. It's really a modern history, covering the conflict between the Arabs and the Israelis in the Middle East, starting from the formation of Israel up to the end of 2008. It is a sweeping history that tells the story in a coherent form for those of us Americans who have only ever encountered it in bits and pieces from internet, video and print media.
Special attention is paid to each American president, from Eisenhower through George W. Bush, and the role they played in Mideast peace, either helping or hurting its cause. Every American president has made a major screwup in their handling of the Middle East. The reasons are many; perhaps they didn't grasp the people and politics of the region, they worked on faulty information, they lacked the will and strength to make tough decisions, they faced political problems at home. In some cases they were intentionally deceived by the Arabs, the Israelis, or even by members of their own staff. Patrick Tyler gives insightful analyses of where each president went wrong.
One thing I really appreciate about this book is that Tyler doesn't play favorites. He treats each group - Arabs, Israelis, and the Americans - with a factual, journalistic style and lets you make your own judgments as to who is in the right and wrong.
One big criticism I have of the book is that even though it is aimed at a general audience, it doesn't give readers the background tools to properly follow the narrative. I would have appreciated a map of the region, a time line, and a glossary listing the main historical players as well as organizations such as Hezbollah and Hamas. I found Wikipedia very useful to keep nearby as I read this book.
Highly recommended if you really want a good understanding of America's role in the Middle East, and why the Arab/Israeli conflict is so important to world politics.
May 15, 2014
Patrick Tyler, who's been a journalist for The Washington Post and The New York Times examines how eight presidents, from Eisenhower to George W. Bush, handled the various crises that have erupted in the Middle East over the course of a half century. (From Ike to GWB is actually ten presidents, but Tyler pretty much skips over Kennedy and Ford.)
It's not at all surprising to see that presidents are often faced with no good choices, only some that are less bad than others. And that they often have to react to situations that they didn't anticipate. And that their attention is often divided. What's interesting is seeing the many different ways that these truisms have manifested themselves.
This is a pretty dense book; it covers a lot of ground in only 563 pages. (It could easily have been ten thousand pages.) I'm afraid I'm not quite enough of a foreign policy wonk to fully appreciate Tyler's effort. I do like that he took an opinionated stance throughout the book, and he seems to have been non-partisan. Reagan came off looking the worst, but Clinton looked pretty bad too.
It's not at all surprising to see that presidents are often faced with no good choices, only some that are less bad than others. And that they often have to react to situations that they didn't anticipate. And that their attention is often divided. What's interesting is seeing the many different ways that these truisms have manifested themselves.
This is a pretty dense book; it covers a lot of ground in only 563 pages. (It could easily have been ten thousand pages.) I'm afraid I'm not quite enough of a foreign policy wonk to fully appreciate Tyler's effort. I do like that he took an opinionated stance throughout the book, and he seems to have been non-partisan. Reagan came off looking the worst, but Clinton looked pretty bad too.
February 4, 2014
This is the best book on recent history in The Middle East I have read in a while. Having lived through much of the history while growing up, I thought I understood this story through the spin of politics and the media of the time. Quite an eye-opener. The relationship btw USA and Israel is revelatory and shocking. Can't help but feel that we got played.
Learn about how Hezbollah got it's start. Why Lebanon got completely destroyed during a "civil war" (Israel, PLO, and Syria). Why the Arab World hates the United States guts...still.
Learn about how Hezbollah got it's start. Why Lebanon got completely destroyed during a "civil war" (Israel, PLO, and Syria). Why the Arab World hates the United States guts...still.
October 29, 2016
A riveting history of America's long and complicated involvement in the Middle East. Not bogged down in academics, the book tells the story of presidents, diplomats, tributes and triumphs, presenting a balanced view of such an emotional history (although he does love his criticisms of U.S. Presidents).
Sometimes it was hard to follow just with the sheer amount of names and events - and his journalistic flair seemed to have confused what was going on. But overall a great book for understanding what the hell is happening in the Middle East.
Sometimes it was hard to follow just with the sheer amount of names and events - and his journalistic flair seemed to have confused what was going on. But overall a great book for understanding what the hell is happening in the Middle East.
August 11, 2009
Tyler looks at our foreign policy in the Middle East from Truman through 2008, and shows how inconsistent we have been, and how this inconsistency caused many problems. After Eisenhower, our policy on Israel and Palestine was a partisan one, preventing us from being honest brokers. The current crises in Iran, Afghanistan, and Iraq all can be traced back to American foreign policy decisions. This book is illuminating. It does give me hope that our current foreign policy is a wise one.
December 11, 2011
Important, well-written history of US policy in the middle east over a 60 year period. It is mostly a history of US blundering. The book is especially good on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It ends abruptly with a short and superficial chapter on the George W Bush presidency and the war on terror. It is an odd ending, almost as if the author ran out of energy. Still, the book is very worthwhile reading.
January 25, 2013
I liked the approach of this book, but at times it's a bit confusing for the laymen. The author does attempt to provide background information and context to all of the events, but that context sometimes feels incomplete, or leaves questions unanswered, and so I felt a bit in the dark at times. Still, I did learn a lot from the parts I did understand.
February 5, 2014
very engaging! not usually a non-fiction reader but I have always loved modern history, especially modern conflict!
July 3, 2016
loved it! gave different perspectives over a long area of time! short novel...but a kepper!
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October 7, 2012Through the years listening and reading what comes up on news channels, magazines, etc., this book gives us an "inside" view of these historical events. Most interesting.
February 14, 2013
Great stuff on Nixon, Carter, and Reagan, skimps a bit on the earlier stuff and makes do with what is available from the Bush-to-Bush period.
July 20, 2016
Easier to read than Robert Fisk but not nearly as satisfying for detail info about the Middle East.
May 8, 2017
Great introduction to our role in the Middle East. Sobering. See review at RAHF
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews