Obama and the Middle East - by Fawaz A Gerges (Paperback)

About the Book

Taking stock of Obama's first year in the White House, this book places his engagement in the Middle East within the broader context of U.S. foreign policy since 9/11 and examines key areas that have posed a challenge to his administration.

Book Synopsis

Published to widespread media acclaim, Fawaz Gerges's work takes on the past, present, and future of the United States' relationship with the Middle East. Gerges, one of the world's top Middle East scholars, examines the US-Middle East relationship Obama has inherited, analyzes the administration's responses to the challenges it has faced, and highlights what must change in order to improve US outcomes in the region. Evaluating the president's engagement with the Arab Spring, his decision to order the death of Osama bin Laden, his intervention in Libya, and his relations with Iran, Gerges reaches a sobering conclusion: the United States is near the end of its moment in the Middle East. The cynically realist policy it has employed since World War II--and that the Obama administration has continued--is at the root of current bitterness and mistrust, and it is time to remake American foreign policy.

Review Quotes

"Sensible recommendations are woven through every chapter of the book for the next US administration" --YaleGlobal Online

"For students of the region, journalists, policy-makers, or others interested in developing a nuanced understanding of US foreign policy towards the Middle East today, at a time when the sun seems to be setting on the US' 'unipolar moment', Fawaz Gerges' Obama and the Middle East could not have come at a better time." --LSE Review of Books

"In a thorough and clear manner, Gerges takes the reader through each of the major challenges the Obama administration has had to face in the Middle East, highlighting where the man of 'hope' and 'change' failed, and where the president has simply been a prisoner of history." --Middle East Policy Council

About the Author

Fawaz A. Gerges is a professor of Middle Eastern Politics and International Relations at the London School of Economics and Political Science, where he is chair of the Middle East Centre. He was a senior ABC television news analyst from 2000 until 2007 and has been a guest on Charlie Rose, Oprah, ABC Nightline, and other prominent shows. He has contributed pieces to The New York Times, The Washington Post, International Herald Tribune, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, Middle East Journal, Al Mustaqbal al-Arabi, and many others. He lives in London.