Skip to main content
Live
MAIL & GUARDIANHillbrow's streets become a stage for freedom before Women's DayBRASIL WIREBolsonaro Takes Stand in Coup TrialTHE GUARDIANTwo Russian men jailed in Angola for terrorism and spyingBRASIL WIREBolsoMaster: Bolsonaro Ties to Brazil’s Biggest Banking Fraud in History ExposedMAIL & GUARDIANThe National Democratic Revolution. How Far Have We Come?MAIL & GUARDIANWe shape leaders while they are youngBRASIL WIREAnalysis: NYT’s bizarre coverage and omissions of Bolsonaro’s murderous coup plotTHE DIPLOMATNew Global Trade Arrangement Gains Momentum – And It’s Worth WatchingTHE GUARDIANUganda begins emergency food handouts after 19 die from hungerBRASIL WIREGenerals Convicted: Inside Brazil’s Historic Bolsonaro Coup Trial VerdictTHE INDEPENDENTLindsey Graham funeral updates: Trump to deliver tribute as late senator is laid to restTHE DIPLOMATIndia Successfully Tests Kusha Long-range Surface-to-Air MissileMAIL & GUARDIANUnwanted Car Smells: What They Mean and How to Get Rid of ThemTHE DIPLOMATChina, Japan, and the Memory Security DilemmaTHE DIPLOMATThe Limits of China’s Growing Influence at the United NationsTHE GUARDIANHealthy diet too expensive for one in three people globally, UN report findsTHE GUARDIANMoD cancels army training in Kenya over powers to prosecute British soldiersTHE GUARDIANHealth worker monitored for Ebola in London hospital after working in DRCLE MONDE DIPLOMATIQUEWashington's stranglehold on YemenTHE INDEPENDENTDeath penalty still on the table as singer D4vd ordered to stand trial in teen murder caseTHE INDEPENDENTIran war spreads to Caspian Sea as Ukraine accused of targeting Tehran vesselTHE INDEPENDENTCould your child’s cellphone be hurting their reading? UCLA study raises new concernsMAIL & GUARDIANEXCLUSIVE: Speak only when authorised, MK party warns Mzwanele Manyi to desist from engaging with the mediaLE MONDE DIPLOMATIQUEThe genocide that still haunts NamibiaLE MONDE DIPLOMATIQUEHighly strategic maritime bordersTHE DIPLOMATIndia’s Gen Z Protesters Score Major Victory Against Modi GovernmentTHE INDEPENDENTPanic on packed California beach as plane loses engine and crash-lands among crowdsBRASIL WIREIn Offering Brazil’s Future to the US, Flávio Bolsonaro Endangers our Sovereignty and DemocracyLE MONDE DIPLOMATIQUEJuly: the longer viewLE MONDE DIPLOMATIQUEHumans and tigers: life among the mangrovesMAIL & GUARDIANHillbrow's streets become a stage for freedom before Women's DayBRASIL WIREBolsonaro Takes Stand in Coup TrialTHE GUARDIANTwo Russian men jailed in Angola for terrorism and spyingBRASIL WIREBolsoMaster: Bolsonaro Ties to Brazil’s Biggest Banking Fraud in History ExposedMAIL & GUARDIANThe National Democratic Revolution. How Far Have We Come?MAIL & GUARDIANWe shape leaders while they are youngBRASIL WIREAnalysis: NYT’s bizarre coverage and omissions of Bolsonaro’s murderous coup plotTHE DIPLOMATNew Global Trade Arrangement Gains Momentum – And It’s Worth WatchingTHE GUARDIANUganda begins emergency food handouts after 19 die from hungerBRASIL WIREGenerals Convicted: Inside Brazil’s Historic Bolsonaro Coup Trial VerdictTHE INDEPENDENTLindsey Graham funeral updates: Trump to deliver tribute as late senator is laid to restTHE DIPLOMATIndia Successfully Tests Kusha Long-range Surface-to-Air MissileMAIL & GUARDIANUnwanted Car Smells: What They Mean and How to Get Rid of ThemTHE DIPLOMATChina, Japan, and the Memory Security DilemmaTHE DIPLOMATThe Limits of China’s Growing Influence at the United NationsTHE GUARDIANHealthy diet too expensive for one in three people globally, UN report findsTHE GUARDIANMoD cancels army training in Kenya over powers to prosecute British soldiersTHE GUARDIANHealth worker monitored for Ebola in London hospital after working in DRCLE MONDE DIPLOMATIQUEWashington's stranglehold on YemenTHE INDEPENDENTDeath penalty still on the table as singer D4vd ordered to stand trial in teen murder caseTHE INDEPENDENTIran war spreads to Caspian Sea as Ukraine accused of targeting Tehran vesselTHE INDEPENDENTCould your child’s cellphone be hurting their reading? UCLA study raises new concernsMAIL & GUARDIANEXCLUSIVE: Speak only when authorised, MK party warns Mzwanele Manyi to desist from engaging with the mediaLE MONDE DIPLOMATIQUEThe genocide that still haunts NamibiaLE MONDE DIPLOMATIQUEHighly strategic maritime bordersTHE DIPLOMATIndia’s Gen Z Protesters Score Major Victory Against Modi GovernmentTHE INDEPENDENTPanic on packed California beach as plane loses engine and crash-lands among crowdsBRASIL WIREIn Offering Brazil’s Future to the US, Flávio Bolsonaro Endangers our Sovereignty and DemocracyLE MONDE DIPLOMATIQUEJuly: the longer viewLE MONDE DIPLOMATIQUEHumans and tigers: life among the mangrovesMAIL & GUARDIANHillbrow's streets become a stage for freedom before Women's DayBRASIL WIREBolsonaro Takes Stand in Coup TrialTHE GUARDIANTwo Russian men jailed in Angola for terrorism and spyingBRASIL WIREBolsoMaster: Bolsonaro Ties to Brazil’s Biggest Banking Fraud in History ExposedMAIL & GUARDIANThe National Democratic Revolution. How Far Have We Come?MAIL & GUARDIANWe shape leaders while they are youngBRASIL WIREAnalysis: NYT’s bizarre coverage and omissions of Bolsonaro’s murderous coup plotTHE DIPLOMATNew Global Trade Arrangement Gains Momentum – And It’s Worth WatchingTHE GUARDIANUganda begins emergency food handouts after 19 die from hungerBRASIL WIREGenerals Convicted: Inside Brazil’s Historic Bolsonaro Coup Trial VerdictTHE INDEPENDENTLindsey Graham funeral updates: Trump to deliver tribute as late senator is laid to restTHE DIPLOMATIndia Successfully Tests Kusha Long-range Surface-to-Air MissileMAIL & GUARDIANUnwanted Car Smells: What They Mean and How to Get Rid of ThemTHE DIPLOMATChina, Japan, and the Memory Security DilemmaTHE DIPLOMATThe Limits of China’s Growing Influence at the United NationsTHE GUARDIANHealthy diet too expensive for one in three people globally, UN report findsTHE GUARDIANMoD cancels army training in Kenya over powers to prosecute British soldiersTHE GUARDIANHealth worker monitored for Ebola in London hospital after working in DRCLE MONDE DIPLOMATIQUEWashington's stranglehold on YemenTHE INDEPENDENTDeath penalty still on the table as singer D4vd ordered to stand trial in teen murder caseTHE INDEPENDENTIran war spreads to Caspian Sea as Ukraine accused of targeting Tehran vesselTHE INDEPENDENTCould your child’s cellphone be hurting their reading? UCLA study raises new concernsMAIL & GUARDIANEXCLUSIVE: Speak only when authorised, MK party warns Mzwanele Manyi to desist from engaging with the mediaLE MONDE DIPLOMATIQUEThe genocide that still haunts NamibiaLE MONDE DIPLOMATIQUEHighly strategic maritime bordersTHE DIPLOMATIndia’s Gen Z Protesters Score Major Victory Against Modi GovernmentTHE INDEPENDENTPanic on packed California beach as plane loses engine and crash-lands among crowdsBRASIL WIREIn Offering Brazil’s Future to the US, Flávio Bolsonaro Endangers our Sovereignty and DemocracyLE MONDE DIPLOMATIQUEJuly: the longer viewLE MONDE DIPLOMATIQUEHumans and tigers: life among the mangrovesMAIL & GUARDIANHillbrow's streets become a stage for freedom before Women's DayBRASIL WIREBolsonaro Takes Stand in Coup TrialTHE GUARDIANTwo Russian men jailed in Angola for terrorism and spyingBRASIL WIREBolsoMaster: Bolsonaro Ties to Brazil’s Biggest Banking Fraud in History ExposedMAIL & GUARDIANThe National Democratic Revolution. How Far Have We Come?MAIL & GUARDIANWe shape leaders while they are youngBRASIL WIREAnalysis: NYT’s bizarre coverage and omissions of Bolsonaro’s murderous coup plotTHE DIPLOMATNew Global Trade Arrangement Gains Momentum – And It’s Worth WatchingTHE GUARDIANUganda begins emergency food handouts after 19 die from hungerBRASIL WIREGenerals Convicted: Inside Brazil’s Historic Bolsonaro Coup Trial VerdictTHE INDEPENDENTLindsey Graham funeral updates: Trump to deliver tribute as late senator is laid to restTHE DIPLOMATIndia Successfully Tests Kusha Long-range Surface-to-Air MissileMAIL & GUARDIANUnwanted Car Smells: What They Mean and How to Get Rid of ThemTHE DIPLOMATChina, Japan, and the Memory Security DilemmaTHE DIPLOMATThe Limits of China’s Growing Influence at the United NationsTHE GUARDIANHealthy diet too expensive for one in three people globally, UN report findsTHE GUARDIANMoD cancels army training in Kenya over powers to prosecute British soldiersTHE GUARDIANHealth worker monitored for Ebola in London hospital after working in DRCLE MONDE DIPLOMATIQUEWashington's stranglehold on YemenTHE INDEPENDENTDeath penalty still on the table as singer D4vd ordered to stand trial in teen murder caseTHE INDEPENDENTIran war spreads to Caspian Sea as Ukraine accused of targeting Tehran vesselTHE INDEPENDENTCould your child’s cellphone be hurting their reading? UCLA study raises new concernsMAIL & GUARDIANEXCLUSIVE: Speak only when authorised, MK party warns Mzwanele Manyi to desist from engaging with the mediaLE MONDE DIPLOMATIQUEThe genocide that still haunts NamibiaLE MONDE DIPLOMATIQUEHighly strategic maritime bordersTHE DIPLOMATIndia’s Gen Z Protesters Score Major Victory Against Modi GovernmentTHE INDEPENDENTPanic on packed California beach as plane loses engine and crash-lands among crowdsBRASIL WIREIn Offering Brazil’s Future to the US, Flávio Bolsonaro Endangers our Sovereignty and DemocracyLE MONDE DIPLOMATIQUEJuly: the longer viewLE MONDE DIPLOMATIQUEHumans and tigers: life among the mangroves
Back to Frontline
BreakingDec 61
USAIsraelSaudi Arabia

Grand Delusion : The Rise and Fall of the American Ambition in the Middle East

View on Telegram
Grand Delusion : The Rise and Fall of the American Ambition in the Middle East

Review :

Grand Delusion : The Rise and Fall of the American Ambition in the Middle East

By : Steven Simon

The culmination of almost forty years at the highest levels of policymaking and scholarship, Grand Delusion is Steven Simon’s tour de force, offering a comprehensive and deeply informed account of U.S. engagement in the Middle East. Simon begins with the Reagan administration, when American perception of the region shifted from a cluster of faraway and frequently skirmishing nations to a shining, urgent opportunity for America to (in Reagan’s words) “serve the cause of world peace and the future of mankind.”

Reagan fired the starting gun on decades of deepening American involvement, but as the global economy grew, bringing an increasing reliance on oil, U.S. diplomatic and military energies were ever more fatefully absorbed by the Middle East. Grand Delusion explores the motivations, strategies, and shortcomings of each presidential administration from Reagan to today, exposing a web of intertwined events—from the history of the Israel-Palestine conflict amid Israeli domestic politics, Cold War rivalries, and Saudi Arabia’s quest for security, to 9/11 and the war on terror—managed by a Washington policy process frequently ruled by wishful thinking and partisan politics.

Simon’s sharp sense of irony and incisive writing brings complex history to life. He illuminates the motives behind America's commitment to Israel; explodes the popular narrative of Desert Storm as a “good war”; and calls out the devastating consequences of our mistakes, particularly for people of the region trapped by the onslaught of American military action and pitiless economic sanctions.

Grand Delusion reveals that this story, while episodically impressive, has too often been tragic and at times dishonorable. As we enter a new era in foreign policy, this is an essential book, a cautionary history that illuminates American's propensity for self-deception and misadventure at a moment when the nation is redefining its engagement with a world in crisis.