GRAND DELUSION

According to this comprehensive account, when it comes to Middle East policy, good intentions count for nothing.

The entanglement of the U.S. in the Middle East goes back decades. Simon, who has worked in numerous key government roles related to foreign policy in the region, argues that despite the spending of huge amounts of blood and treasure, not much has been achieved. The chapters relate to presidential administrations, but the author often takes informative detours into the deeper history. Every president has started out with great aspirations, but each one has had to change course to accommodate shifting realities. Every country in the region has its own agenda and historic conflicts with neighbors, and their political systems are often dictatorial, unstable, and/or corrupt. For an external player to understand all of the factors involved is like trying to put together a jigsaw in a labyrinth of distorting mirrors. Simon threads his way through the chaos, noting the many agreements and treaties that have been meant to bring stability. Unfortunately, paper burns easily. In fact, American policy has seldom displayed a clear objective. Should the U.S. support Israel? Counter Soviet, and then Russian, influence? Build democratic governments? Tamp down the chronic violence? Protect sources of oil? All of these are relevant, which has meant that none has been very effective, and occasional, conditional successes have been offset by bloody failures. Simon sees the focus of U.S. foreign policy now moving toward Asia, with a growing realization that the idea of imposing a solution on the Middle East is a delusion. “A net assessment suggests that the United States would have been better off today if it had not been so eager to intervene in the Middle East,” says Simon. “Fortunately, America’s era there is drawing to a close, and probably not a moment too soon.”

As a frontline player in Middle East policy, Simon provides a sweeping, detailed analysis of failures and successes.