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Obama and the Middle East: the End of America’S Moment? by Fawaz A

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Obama and the Middle East: the End of America’S Moment? by Fawaz A BOOK REVIEWS Obama and the Middle East: The End of America’s Moment? By Fawaz A. Gerges New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013, 304 pages, ISBN 9780230113817, $28 Hardcover. Reviewed by Cory Ruzicka Wıthın Fawaz Gerges’ text, The policy miscalculations. The most End of America’s Moment?-Obama detrimental of which include: US and the Middle East, the author support for the establishment of the endeavors to examine President state of Israel, the 1953 coup against Obama’s implementation of inher- the popularly elected Mohammad ently stagnant policies towards the Mossadegh in Iran, the strong sup- highly volatile and rapidly evolving port for Israel after the Six-Dar War Middle East. Furthermore, Gerges in 1967, the oil embargo of 1973, elaborates on the manner in which the Iranian revolution of 1979, and the globalists and the Israel-first school suc- the resulting hostage crisis and America’s mil- ceed in shaping public opinion in the United itary intervention in the Gulf in 1991, which States about the Middle East and how this resulted in permanent stationing of troops process perpetually cripples Obama. in Saudi Arabia (p. 31). The author stipulates that each individual incident is a microcosm, Gerges embarks on his assessment by offer- which offers crucial insight into the motives ing a multitude of contextually-rich histori- of President Obama and his administration. cal examples and utilizes them to elucidate how the US has precipitated its own fall from First and foremost, the establishment of the dominance within the region. As the book state of Israel signaled the beginning of an progresses, the author demonstrates that era of great polarity in US-Arab relations. Obama has enacted policies which not only Prior to 1948, President Truman was strongly possess no redeemable modern value but also urged to consider the ramifications of antago- merely serve to continue the realist agenda nizing the Arab population. However, relent- implanted by previous administrations. He less pressure from Zionist groups coupled further extends his argument during the con- with the rigors of the domestic political pro- cluding portions of the piece by explaining cess caused Truman to disregard his advisors’ how Obama’s adoption of an “anti-doctrinal warnings. (p. 32). From an Arab perspective, doctrine” is indicative of a perennial culture this was an ostentatious display of US apathy of inflexibility and disconnection towards the towards the true sentiments of the region’s modern Middle East. populous. As the piece unfolds, Gerges explains that The author further scrutinizes this phenom- America’s course of self-destruction can- enon via the 1953 coup against Mohammed not be attributed to any particular instance Mossadegh in Iran. Though Mossadegh was but is rather the culmination of five decades popularly elected, he was perceived as an un- of gradual attrition embodied by egregious reliable radical nationalist, who posed a re- 200 Insight Turkey alistic threat to the interests of American oil the President’s inability to relate to a popu- companies everywhere (p. 38). Gerges stipu- lous that is rapidly evolving in the wake of the lates that this is a quintessential example of Arab Spring. the US disregarding the public and forcefully interjecting itself to prevent a shift away from A dissenting opinion would contend that US- the status quo. He buttresses this assertion as Israel relations are symbiotic in nature where- he states, “Instead of viewing the region from in both parties mutually benefit from the the inside out, American officials looked at alliance. Furthermore, they would argue that it from the outside in, from a globalist per- the US has an obligation to preserve the sanc- spective” (p. 36). The author believes that this tity of the state of Israel due to the fact that globalist inclination has endured and is tan- it provides a strategic channel through which tamount to the stances of the current admin- the US can enter the region. The author opines istration. that Zionists are privy to this and have utilized Obama’s malleability to their benefit. How- In an attempt to bolster support from the ever, dissenters would stipulate that the Presi- public, President Obama presented lofty rhe- dent is justified in his support of Israel and torical promises aimed at restoring the ailing regional dictators because the Arab people are US-Arab relations. From the author’s vantage not currently suited for democratic change. point, these statements were merely an act of political posturing, which never truly miti- In essence, they would contend that although gated tensions with Muslims but rather were democracy is a functional instrument in designed to temporarily satiate the public’s the western world, it is highly volatile when concern. Gerges examines the tribulations placed in the hands of Middle Eastern- Obama underwent as he navigated through ers. Gerges refutes this claim in the context contentious negotiations regarding the “two- of the 1973 oil embargo as he discusses the state” solution. When Israeli-Palestinian Kissinger model for dealing with Middle peace talks proved much costlier than he Eastern social empowerment. To Arabs, how- had foreseen, the President first allowed his ever, Kissinger’s step-by-step diplomacy was vice president to be humiliated by the Israeli aimed at buying time and reducing pressure prime minister and then awkwardly disen- on Israel and the United States (p. 52). Gerges gaged from the peace-process entirely (p. 11). indicates that this model is highly translat- able to the Obama’s current stances. The au- Concurrently, Obama has done little to rec- thor opines, “His [Obama] uplifting rhetoric ognize the legitimacy of certain Islamic raised expectations within the region but only groups that have been democratically elected. acted to disappoint the Muslim world as he As the author contends, the President is con- was unable to translate his hopes and prom- tent in preserving the predominately negative ises into concrete policy” (p. 25). Essentially, stereotypes surrounding supposed “extrem- the President seems to have adopted this ap- ist” groups (p. 101). Democratically elected proach because he is desperately hoping that groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah repre- he can avoid any major mishaps in the region sent a realistic threat to the US hegemonic while his attention in diverted elsewhere. balance in the region. The author asserts that this tendency symbolizes not only the undy- Overall, within his book, Gerges examines ing desire to preserve the status quo but also history of the US presence in the Middle East 2013 Summer 201 BOOK REVIEWS and subsequently explains how it relates to region. Though Gerges’ highly critical stances the current administration. Throughout the spurned a number of opposing arguments, process, he offers a compilation of contextu- his assertions were comprehensively justified. ally-rich historical examples to reinforce his Fawaz Gerges judiciously displayed that the stances. Within these parameters, he argues Obama administration inherited a destruc- that the Obama administration has acted as a tive framework, which they subsequently em- mere perpetuator of the stagnant policies of- ployed to defend the status quo, serve their fered by its predecessors and is thus the har- own imperialistic interests, and the repress binger of the US’s fall from dominance in the the Muslim voice. Modern Islamist Movements, History, Religion and Politics By Jon Armajani Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2012, 233 pages, ISBN 9781405117425, £19.99. Reviewed by Azzam Tamimi Thıs book is an easy to read text- and it lacks original research, rely- book that is structured to present ing mainly on secondary sources. readers with an historical overview of some of the prominent Islamic As a result of the first caveat the movements active in parts of the book, which has recently been pub- Muslim world, specifically in West lished, falls short of taking into con- and South Asia. sideration the major developments in the regions under consideration It comprises an introduction, five over the past half decade or so, in- chapters, and a conclusion. The first chapter cluding the Arab Spring and its impact on is about Egypt’s Islamism with the main fo- Islamism as well as on regional and world pol- cus on the Muslim Brotherhood. The second itics. The author not only fails to consult some chapter is on the West Bank, Gaza, and Israel. of the most relevant and most recent works on A summary of the history of the conflict leads Islamic movements published during the dec- to a discussion of Hamas, Palestine’s main ade that preceded his own book’s publication, Islamic group. The third chapter is on Saudi he seems to have made very little effort, if at Arabia tracing the roots of Wahhabism to all, to conduct first hand research at least to Najd. The fourth chapter is on Pakistan with verify or question some of the arguments or an emphasis on Mawdudi and Jama’at-I Isla- analyses imported from secondary sources. In mi. And the fifth chapter is on Afghanistan fact, in many instances, quotations from sec- and the rise of Osama bin Laden, the Taliban, ondary sources remained unquestioned. Thus, and Alqaida. his analysis of these sources is weak. Some of these sources had either their own circum- Although the book is well structured, it suf- stances or agendas and therefore may not have fers from two main caveats: it is not up to date done justice to the topic under consideration. 202 Insight Turkey.
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