America in the Middle East - Power - and Fantasy

Exaustively researched, & excellently written! This book should be mandatory reading. It clearly lays out the real basis of America's Middle East policy; unswerving support for the state of Isreal; &, insistance in "Isreal's right to exist", i.e.: a Crusade to bring about the "second coming of Christ"!

My problem with the book is that it attributes major events in the US history to involvements in the Middle East. On page 29 the author makes the claim that creating a US Navy to fight the Arab pirates was a major factor in what motivated the transition from the confederation to the union and the writing of the US constitution. I almost dropped off my chair when I read that. I have read a lot about that subject and I do not any source ever mentioning that motive. Sure a US Navy was needed to act against pirates. But how about the pirates of the Caribbean? And the big motive for forming a "stronger union" was interstate commerce.

In the subsequent pages I saw repeated mention of "initial defeat" (of the US in the Middle East) followed by "eventual success." On page 58 there is the phrase "Jefferson certainly agreed, but debt-ridden by his purchase of Louisiana from France, he was hard-pressed to maintain even two frigates in the Mediterranean, much less to mount a full-scale attack." I have never read before a negative reference to the Louisiana purchase.

It seemed to me that the author had an agenda, to justify current US involvement in the Middle East by showing supposedly historical precedents.

If I had any doubts, they were removed in Chapter 5 where he discusses the Greek revolution of 1821. Oren states that the Greeks were fighting for democracy and the US was in a dilemma between supporting a fledging democracy and its financial interest that depended on good relations with the Ottoman Empire. I was born and educated in Greece and I was taught a lot about the revolution of 1821. The truth is that the US had very little influence in the region at the time. Instead England, France, and Russia were fighting for influence in the new country (England won eventually). Also the Greek revolution was not for democracy but it had religious and ethnic motives. It was a revolt of (mostly Greek speaking) Orthodox Christians against a Muslim government. Early on the Greeks slaughtered all Muslims and Jews in Peloponese. Apparently, the slaughter was so extensive that our schoolbooks could not ignore it but described it as a "justified" over-reaction to long centuries of Ottoman suppression. In addition, the first governments of Greece were quite autocratic and even constitutional monarchy did not become stable until after 1860. So you may say, does it matter that Oren botched one event. Yes, it does. It was one of the few cases where I could check his story and not only he got it all wrong but he also presented in a way that is supporting current US policy in the Middle East.

I used to respect Oren, but after reading this book I have changed my opinion. He has no credibility for me.

This is probably the most useful and comprehensive survey available of U.S. interactions with the Middle East. Oren's account is thorough and he makes a cogent argument that the threat from Barbary piracy played a critical role in shaping our early institutions than is generally acknowledged. Oren's account is particularly strong in tracing the growth of U.S. missionary activity in the region and its impact on schools, education, and political change. As other reviewers have noted, his brief survey of the post-1950s era is his weakest. As Oren himself notes, however, there are a plethora of other works available to cover that period.

Oren argues that three elements--"power, faith, and fantasy" have driven U.S. Middle Eastern policy. Unfortunately, Mr. Oren's account is weakened by his efforts to fit all interactions into his theme. His accounts of Americans' initial fantasies of the Orient crashing into disillusionment grow repetitive. Oren wrote this volume before his appointment as Israel's Ambassador to the United States, but his treatment of Arabs does appear biased. He makes little effort to explore Arab perceptions of Americans, instead repeatedly quoting Americans' denigrations of the "backwards natives," who are uninterested in conversion to Christianity, adopting American agricultural practices, or otherwise changing to fit the Americans' wishes.

In short, there is much to recommend here. Power, Faith and Fantasy provides a unique account of America's earliest interactions with the Middle East and how those relationships affected both the United States and Middle Eastern cultures. One can only wish that Oren's bias was a little less strong in shaping the narrative.

Power, Faith and Fan­tasy: Amer­ica in the Mid­dle East, 1776 to the Present by Michael B. Oren is a study of the rela­tion­ship the United States had towards the Mid­dle East since its incep­tion. Mr. Oren is an Israeli born author and his­to­rian who sev­ered as an amabas­sodor to the United States from 2009 to 2013.

Power, Faith and Fan­tasy: Amer­ica in the Mid­dle East, 1776 to the Present by Michael B. Oren is a very long book in which the authors makes his case about the impor­tant role the US played, and still plays, in the Mid­dle East as well as the way the Islamic Mid­dle East played a role in cre­ated the mighty Amer­i­can mil­i­tary. The threats from the Mid­dle East not only played a role in cre­at­ing a strong army to defend the bor­ders of the US, but also its inter­ests abroad.

The book states that the poli­cies towards Mid­dle East has been coher­ent in the 18th Cen­tury, but now they are a mess, as is the region itself. Mr. Oren does a fine job observ­ing neu­tral­ity through­out the book, espe­cially on con­tentious issues, quot­ing pol­icy mak­ers and care­ful not to take a stand himself.

Besides objec­tive his­tory, Mr. Oren also writes about the per­son­al­i­ties involved, includ­ing lit­tle anec­dotes which always make his­tory fun. It was amaz­ing for me to read how much Chris­t­ian restora­tionism has influ­enced Amer­i­can pol­icy before World War II and how the AIPAC has influ­enced pol­icy afterwards.

The book is big on details, but the nar­ra­tive is enter­tain­ing and inter­est­ing. I applaud the author for going through, what seems like, a fan­tas­tic amount of research through pri­mary sources and gov­ern­men­tal records.

Michael Oren contends that the development of the United States has always been much more closely connected to the Middle East than anyone would think at first. While I think he overstates the case, it is true in both significant and insignificant ways that the two places have interacted more often than standard histories would suggest.

A significant way was the early American crisis with the Barbary pirates. Oren contends that it was the inability of the associated government under the Articles of Confederation to deal with the pirates that largely motivated the change to the Constitution. Even after signing the Constitution, the US was so weak that, despite the misgivings of Washington, the country spent 10 percent of its national budget on tribute.

While the irritation of the pirates was significant and meaningful, there were plenty of other reasons to dispose of the Confederation, from Indian relations to state debts.

An insignificant, but amusing, example was the origin of the Statue of Liberty. The original proposal, linked to the Suez Canal, was for a statue of a somewhat zaftig feminine Egypt "bringing light to Asia." Only the bankruptcy of the khedive repurposed the sculptor's vision to the more svelte Lady Liberty facing Europe.

In Oren's view, the relationship of America and what he does not call the Koran Belt was always more fraught than we think, composed of three usually antagonistic elements: government power (not originally in favor of America), religious outreach (always one way) and fantasy (an image derived mostly from the "Thousand and One Nights" which isn't even Arab or Turkish, although most of America's interactions were with Arabs or Turks).

The religious component is the most typically American, bizarre and muttonheaded. At the same time that missionaries were landing in Hawaii, where they remade a traditional society, other American missionaries were landing in Syria, where they were complete failures as far as faith goes.

Given the one-way attitude of Muslims toward missionizing, this was predictable. Stubbornly refusing to give up, the Americans turned from gathering souls to opening schools and hospitals. Oren attributes to them the infection of modernism in the Koran Belt.

True, many of the opponents of the Ottomans were exposed to western ideas in missionary schools, but the Ottomans themselves sent their promising young men to France, and well before the Americans arrived. Oren overstates this aspect in two ways. First, he makes the infection seem exclusively American, which it was not; and, second, he makes it seem important, which it never became.

As we see now ("Power, Faith and Fantasy" was published in 2007) with the reversion of the misnamed Arab Spring to atavistic social and political norms, the infection of modernism never caused more than a temporary rash in the Koran Belt.

The book is fun to read, with caution. Oren tends to underplay the immiseration of Muslim society and overplay its openness to change. The influx of Americans to the region in the 19th century was tiny, even if it included names we know, like Mark Twain; and not happy for the Americans.

It seems that the usual fate of these sojourners was to die of disease, or if not that, to be murdered; or if they ever got out, to end their days in poverty and obscurity.

But enough did get back alive to infect America with a continuing hankering to do good or do well in the region. Most of this infection was centered on Princeton University. Oren does not tell (though it is no secret) that he, too, holds a doctorate in Middle Eastern studies from Princeton.

He is an Israeli of American origin (since publication of this book, his country's ambassador to Washington), and the names of his collaborators as given in the acknowledgements are almost entirely Jewish.

Despite his militant Zionism as a political actor, he is scrupulously even-handed as a historian in his books (also his history of "The Six-day War"). You would hardly guess, from the texts, that he has been an active player in the latest uproars in the Middle East.

This fairmindedness, which ought to be a virtue, is in the end a flaw. By treating all players -- Americans, Turks, Muslim Arabs, Jews, Arab Christians, Persians etc. -- as equally free actors in history he leaves a misleading impression.

His short history of US government policy since 1945 is scathing, but does not acknowledge the big fact that led to failure: In an interaction between one side that is (however imperfectly) motivated by democratic principles; and another that is (perfectly) constitutionally impervious to democratic principles, the first side can never hope to prevail.

It sometimes seems as if Oren has read everything. (He hasn't really; a platoon of graduate students in New Haven, Cambridge, Washington, Princeton and Jerusalem ransacked the libraries for him.) Among the authors he cites is the Syrian political scientist Bassam Tibi. He misses Tibi's masterful insight.

Tibi wrote that Arabs are not interested in democracy. This is obviously the case. Any book, no matter how judiciously intended, that assumes a different possibility is going to be fundamentally misleading, and in that sense, "Power, Faith and Fantasy" is misleading.

It is, nevertheless, required reading. Oren says, I think correctly, that no one had tried to write the story of America in the Middle East (a term invented by an American, Alfred Mahan) before.

Finally I get to read a captivating book! The last few books I have been reading were less than adequate.

This book reads like a novel, and was thus very entertaining as well as informative (just the kind of mix I like in books). However, I was somewhat disappointed by the reviews I have read here on the store, and this almost slanted my opinion of this book. Some reviewers mention that the author is Israeli, and thus pro Israeli at the expense of a balanced book; that a lot of facts are false; a lot of important Arab and Turkish leaders are omitted; that the author claims the US did little damage in the Middle East (this is not true when you look at the atrocities and deaths in Iraq) etc...

True I did find a lot of bias when reading this book, but that did not deter me from learning from and enjoying this book. I remember when I was in school, a Greek classmate of mine (probably 14 years old at the time) told the teacher that a passage we had just read in a book about Greek history was false. The teacher immediately exploded in rage and addressed us all, 'A book is never wrong.' The student then said, "But I was taught in my former school that the events mentioned in this book (the book we were reading at the time) happened in a different fashion." I have never forgotten that exchange, and since an early age, I have come to realize that not everything we read is necessarily the truth. The fact that it made it into a book doesn't make it true.

I am sure there is a lot of bias and untruths in this book (some that were quickly noticed by me, others only came to light after reading the reviews here), but this in no way deterred me from enjoying and learning from this book. In fact, I found the events leading to the creation of Israel as the most interesting and informative, despite many readers opting to stop taking the book seriously starting from after World War II (1945 onwards). Regardless of how accurate the information is, it is accurate from the author's point of view, and that is the interesting part. There are always two sides of a story, and it never hurts to know both sides.

I highly recommend this book. The history of the relation of the US and the Middle East is fascinating, and anyone wanting to understand the current events in the Middle East should read this book.

Most Americans probably think that the American involvement in the Middle East began in the last forty years or so. A few might remember that it goes back to the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948. In fact, as detailed on the pages of "Power, Faith, Fantasy", The Middle East has been an important theatre of American foreign policy since the foundation of the Republic. John Adams and Thomas Jefferson had to deal with Barbary Pirates who molested the shipping of Christian countries in the 18th and 19th centuries. Whereas Adams followed the pattern of European countries in trying to buy protection by paying tribute, Jefferson chose a military response to free American hostages and put an end to the Mediterranean piracy. It was Jefferson's policy that compelled the re-establishment of the U.S. Navy.

Author Michael Oren does an excellent job of illustrating the various motivations that have driven American policy in the Middle East over the centuries. After the defeat of the Barbary States American interest in the Middle East was defined by Faith-based initiatives intending to restore the Jews to the Holy Land. Others established education institutions that transformed Egypt and other Middle Eastern countries. By the administration of Theodore Roosevelt, kidnapping was again the cause of contention as Roosevelt demanded that "This government wants Perdicaris alive or Raisuli dead." As Roosevelt's projection of American power gave way to Wilsonian idealism, this minister's son was again driven by ideals of Faith and an unwillingness to jeopardize American citizens working in the schools previously established. This unwillingness prevented a U.S. declaration of war against the Ottoman Empire during World War I. The lack of involvement kept the U.S. out of the post-war decisions regarding the Middle East. Nazi conquest of North Africa drew the United States into the region in 1942 with the Operation Torch landings in Morocco and Algeria. After the war the U.S. would be involved in the establishment of Israel and, with the retreat of the European powers, would become the dominant outside force in the region. From 1948 on the Middle East was never far from the minds of American policy makers, whether concerned with the survival of Israel, the supply of oil, Soviet rivalry, kidnappings or terrorism. Through all of this the American public had to discern fact from fantasy, the world of flying carpets and 1,001 Arabian Nights from the one of oil wells and terrorist bombings.

This book brings the long history of American involvement into perspective. It helps the reader understand that it did not begin with anything that we can remember while tying together themes that have intertwined the centuries. It helps us see how the Middle east has changed us and how we have changed that region. Given the importance of the Middle East in America's future this is a book for all to read.

Michael Oren is the author of two other books, and it so happens I read one of them. I liked parts of Six Days of War, but thought that his account of the military portion of the war was rather weak. I felt that Power, Faith, and Fantasy would probably be a good book, because there wouldn't need to be accounts of battles and campaigns much here, and I was correct.

Power, Faith, and Fantasy: America in the Middle East 1776 to the Present, is a big, involved account of American attitudes, personalities, and actions in the Middle East, starting obviously with our nation's founding and running through the current Iraq War. The author makes it clear in the forward to the book that he's going to concentrate on the early portions of the nation's relationship with what was then called "the Orient", because he feels that part of history has been much neglected in modern writing. As a result, we get a history of missionary movements and the occasional diplomatic offensive, along with a very rare and minor military adventure (notably the Barbary Pirate Wars).

Oren, however, isn't really interested in the machinations of governments and their relationships. Instead, he's fascinated by the various characters that people the area and the region, and so the book is a parade of interesting characters, starting with John Ledyard, who journeyed to the region from New England, and ending with Nathaniel Fick, who followed in his footsteps more than two centuries later. Along the way, the author introduces us to various characters who either wrote about, visited, or lived in the Middle East, from those we know (Mark Twain, Clara Barton, Stephen Decatur, Teddy and Franklin Roosevelt) to those whose names are less familiar, like Charles Stone, a disgraced Civil War officer who served as Chief of Staff of the Egyptian Army for almost two decades, and went on to construct the base of the Statue of Liberty. The author handles the narrative of these people's interactions with the region very well, and he's a master of the thumbnail portrait of an individual, something that's essential if you're going to write a book like this that has hundreds of characters in it.

The book's three themes are in the title. The author believes that America's involvement in the region has in all cases embraced one of these three themes. We've either projected power into the region (whether the U.S. Navy during the Barbary Pirate wars, or the invasion and occupation of Iraq going on currently), we've been inspired by Faith to go there (as tourists to visit Holy Sites in Israel, or as missionaries to educate and convert the locals), or we've been inspired by Fantasies of what the region and its people are really like. This last leads the author to what at times is the most interesting part of the book, as he discusses how the region has been portrayed in pop culture, primarily movies and music, and how those images have influenced American opinions of the region ever since.

I enjoyed this book a great deal. It's long, and involved, but the prose is well-constructed, and the author makes some good points. He discusses American misconceptions with regards to the region, but he doesn't fall into the usual trap of imagining that while Americans misunderstand everything, they are in turn completely understood by those in other parts of the world. It was interesting to read about the various individuals who were influential in our understanding of the Middle East, given how important it is to our modern society. One of the more amusing portions of the book concerns early 19th Century clergymen in the U.S. who were in favor of the Jews returning to the Holy Land. One of them was named George Bush, and is a direct ancestor of both of the presidents of the same name, though he was an evangelical, unlike the elder President Bush, who is Episcopalian.

As I said, I enjoyed this book a great deal, and would recommend it.

I'm confident that "Power, Faith and Fantasy" is not rubbish and appreciate the efforts by Michael B. Oren to connect the earliest developments in U.S. policy and history to conditions and events in the Middle East.
Historical scholars will undoubtedly take issue with Oren's nearly uninterrupted parallelism between American and Middle Eastern history, but these parallels are often revealed with caveats that leave the author's hypothesis open to the reader's own suppositions.
I do take issue with some of the critiques that disparage the book for how it covers the most recent events in the region. Criticizing a 600+ page book for its final 100 pages seems a bit disingenuous, if irresponsible. The books final section is adequate, but not exhaustive and Oren never suggests that it is. Most readers can draw on their own experiences as the audience of the last decade or so of American-Mid East relations to formulate conclusions beyond the author's limited synopsis of events.
This book is a fascinating resource of brilliant American perspectives on the Middle East from our earliest experiences with Islam and Arabs to our frequently torrid relationship with the region's inhabitants. Many of these early insights are no less relevant today than they were 30, 200 and 230 years ago.
Perhaps Gen. George McClellan figured much of it out in 1874 when he observed that, "Most Muslims have little but life to lose in this world, and much to gain in the other by entering it from a conflict with the unbeliever."
REVIEW EVERY BOOK YOU READ, READERS, WRITERS AND PUBLISHERS DESERVE YOUR OPINIONS TOO.

The first remarkable thing about this very remarkable book is that it traces an over two- hundred year involvement of the U.S. with the Middle East which most people, including myself, did not really know very much about. It shows that in the early days of the U.S. it was involved in dealing with a threat of blackmail and terror from the Barbary Pirates, not unlike those faced today. President Jefferson quite heroically at that time refused to give in to the blackmail, and pay protection money to the pirates as he saw there would be no end to it. Instead he took the action to create a U.S. Naval Force which would operate far from home, and which eventually did lift this threat to America's trade and commerce.
Oren looks at the power relations between the U.S. and the Middle East, but also looks at the part 'faith' has played. Here he reveals just how long the American involvement in working toward a Jewish restoration in the Holy Land was. It preceded that of the modern Zionist movement. He also shows how Faith led to American involvement in other areas of the Middle East, for instance in building the American Universities in Beirut and Egypt. One irony of this story is that the generation of founding Zionist Christians often had descendants who would become opponents of the cause of Jewish restoration.
Oren also looks at the role of Myth, the often romanticized and unrealistic way in which Americans have seen the Middle East.
He is a wonderful storyteller, and a very judicious and careful scholar. While he certainly reveals sympathy to the role of the Americans in helping establish a Jewish state, he by no means paints the relations as uniform and simple. He indicates numerous instances where American leaders have worked against the policies Israel considered to be in its best interest. He tells in a fascinating way of how President Truman against the advice of all his most powerful advisors, made the decision to support the founding of the Jewish state.
Oren provides a tremendous amount of interesting information which will be new to most readers. His account of the Melville and Twain visits to the Holy Land are a prime example of this.
This is a wonderful, highly readable and informative book which should be in the library of everyone who wishes to understand the role of America in the Middle East.

In the preface to the final section, Oren notes that the purpose of this book is both simple and complex: to identify recurring patterns in U.S./Mid-East relations throughout the years. What the reader can take away with them is a rich tapestry of context in which to view not only the remaining chapters of the book, but ultimately any new developments in the region. In Oren's words, "The objective is to enable Americans to read about the fighting in Iraq and hear the echoes of the Barbary Wars and Operation Torch" (the codename for U.S. operations in North Africa and the mid-east in WWII).
This book turned out to be a surprise for me. History and the written word can trudge through decades of bland non-events. Middle east history itself-- perhaps due to the sheer amount written on the subject-- can often feel like a barrage of meaningless dates and names. Yet, Oren's lucid writing style makes even centuries of Christian missionary work (not the most thrilling topic in the world) seem crucial and engaging when viewed within a larger picture. As any good historian, Oren acts as a tour guide for a nearly 250-year relationship.
This book will only increase in intellectual value as time goes by and I fully intend to re-read it. As America and the middle-east become more and more inextricably linked (as much as neither party really wants to), our knowledge of each other can be the only way to see through to a mutually happy next 250 years.

Power, Faith and Fantasy is a wonderful look at how the United States and the Middle East (includes North Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, Turkey and Iraq/Iran) as their relations progressed from 1776 to the most recent invasion of Iraq and Iran. Oren works through varying degrees of complexity to unravel the relations and power struggles between the United States and the Middle East as they evolved through motives of faith to the fantasy that drew travelers into the region. The book begins with the Barbary pirates and the United States attempt to take a moral stand against them and ends with the same analogy against Islamic terrorism. Overall the circular picture the book presents is well served. What is probably most interesting for those who know a little about this time is the extent to which American missionaries were involved in faith efforts throughout the Middle East. The book works in great detail up until World War II and then the speed version of that time period is given. It covers enough of the major highlights but it should be said it does not have the depth the rest of the book has. Overall Oren delivers another well researched and written book that stays on topic and provides new insights into an expanding area of scholarship.

When George Washington drove away the British in 1776, little did he know that independence came with a price. America from that day on was on her own. There was no longer a superpower like Britain to look after America. And sure enough, as if on cue, unprotected American merchant ships became easy prey for Moroccan pirates in the Mediterranean. Immediately upon gaining her independence, America encountered her first foreign threat -- the Middle East.

Back in the day, it was far less costly to give in to extortion than to fight a war. So a European country's foreign policy was fairly simple -- set aside an annual fund for paying off pirates.

Not, however, according to the Founding Fathers. President Madison said, "It is a ... settled policy of America, that as peace is better than war, war is better than tribute ... The United States, while they wish for war with no nation, will buy peace with none."

Britain and France were the wealthy superpowers at the time. America was not even close.

But over time America became prosperous. And attributing their prosperity to Divine Providence, those who had money made pilgrimages to Palestine to see firsthand the land on which Jesus walked. What they saw however shocked them. Instead of spirituality, they found poverty, thievery, and a "backward" culture. Unable to stand idly by and do nothing, American missionaries flowed into the Middle East in hopes of converting the region to Christianity.

But the mission was easier said than done. Almost all the evangelists died from disease as soon as they arrived. The Muslims, they also found, steadfastly held to their religion. In the end, the missionaries stopped spreading Christian doctrine and focused instead on building hospitals and schools. They taught the republican ideals of democracy and freedom hoping that through education the people would come to their own and strive for American-style liberty.

And so when news that Jews were getting massacred in Russian pogroms reached America and Hitler started driving away the Jews, it became embedded in American minds that it was in their "Manifest Destiny" to find a permanent settlement for displaced Jews. Zionism, as the movement was called, found no place more fitting than the Jews' ancestral land of Palestine.

America knew then, however, that by recognizing Israel, the Arab world would rise in protest. Oil, whose rich deposits under Arab soil were only then being discovered, was just beginning to grow in demand as it drove Western civilization's industrialization. In the ensuing years, America had to strike a balance between upholding her ideals -- that of protecting Israel -- and protecting her interests -- that of oil.

It is easy to fault America for the region's conflicts today. A critic only need mention oil and any and all debate regarding American foreign policy quickly ends. But in reading the book, I came to see that America has been present in the region long before oil was discovered. American warships had gone wherever American citizens went to provide protection where none was available. Having succeeded in obtaining their freedom, Americans want nothing more than the same liberty to be enjoyed by peoples around the world.

If, indeed, oil was the one true thing that America coveted, she only needs to relinquish her support for Israel and no more American lives need be lost in the Middle East. But perhaps seeing in Israel her former self when droves of huddled masses left the Old World for the New in pursuit of happiness, that may not be something America can will itself to do.

Michael Oren's POWER, FAITH and FANTASY is an immensely researched (80 pages of notes and a 50 page bibliography) and cohesively written accound of American impact in the middle east from the beginnings of America until the present. The background research and anecdotes provide a firm footing for any interested party who wants to know how the United States and the Middle East arrived to the situations they are in today.

Most notably, Oren describes the personalities of the people involved, and reminds us through evidence and quotes, that the policies of countries (whether democracy, autocracy or other) are shaped by the sentiments, education and background of their leaders. Mr. Oren runs through not only the leaders of the Middle Eastern countries in each phase, but goes in depth on the up-bringing and cultural leanings of each U.S. President (i.e., most of them) who had influence to bear on the events in the Middle East.

The book is crafted into seven sections, roughly paralleling developments in US History: independence, before the Civil War, during the Civil War, as America becomes a power, WWI, oil and WWII, and a brief skim over the years since WWII. In each section are weaved the three themes of Faith (religeous influences, including Zionist, pro-Arab, anti-Semite, etc.), Power (US ideas of democracy vs. European Imperialism, Soviet Communism, Arab self-rule) and Fantasy (films, impressions).

I enjoyed this book because Mr. Oren presented facts, not judgements, difficult to do in history as you can make the facts say what you want. But he convincingly presents as many perspecitves to each issue as he can.

His last section on the years from WWII to present was brief, but he acknowleded that it would be a fly-by because of so much material and interest that had already been written on the subject.

A long read at 600+ pages, but well worth it. I learned many new things and was reminded of some I had forgotten. Highly recommended.

Some of newborn America's first baby steps on the world stage were taken into the quicksand of Middle Eastern politics. Michael Orin draws a compelling line in the sand. Not as a challenge to cross, but a narrative line to follow. A timeline, if you will, of events enacted, of responses made, of good intentions meant.

Pick a year, any year. Pick a paper, any paper. If it was printed since 1776, the story of America in the Middle East will basically read the same, "Never ending or beginning, on an ever spinning wheel..." This well written book makes one feel as if a moth drawn irresistibly to the flame. The ending? You know it. The whole tangled mess of American Foreign Policy, the no-go efforts of NGOs (didn't we used to call them missionaries?), leaves us rubber-necking at a wreckage we cannot turn away from.

POWER, FAITH, AND FANTASY. America has not been napping, but in a Gullivereskian way, the Lilliputians of small minds from all sides has left America feeling POWERless, with a challenged FAITH, yet still clinging to the FANTASY of hope.

Reviewed by Charles Dusenbury, author MOLASBA and COMPUTER BRAIN, on Kindle.

Michael Oren's POWER, FAITH AND FANTASY, a study of the United States' involvement in the Middle East since 1776, is an eye-opening read. Just be prepared to carve out some time to have your eyes opened. While consistently fascinating and well worth reading if you have any interest in why we are where we are in the morass of Middle Eastern politics, the book is not a quick read due both to its length and the density of its prose.

The vast majority of the book focuses on the period from American independence in 1776 through the declaration of Israeli independence in 1948 because, according to Oren, there has not been a quality overview of that period placed in print before. His study of that period is comprehensive, relating the experiences of minor diplomats and missionaries alongside those of more familiar names. After 1948, things get spottier, although as a basic introduction to the period for those whom this is all new, it does the job.

Oren's thesis is that American involvement in the region is a combination of America's need for power and Americans' efforts to evangelize and serve as missionaries to non-Christian regions. Oren believes that a lot of this involvement and interest is fueled by American fantasies and stereotypes of the region, which are the product of old-school mythology like 1,001 NIGHTS and newer releases from Hollywood like ALADDIN.

What struck me on reading the book is how strong US relations with many parts of the Middle East have been in the past, when Arab nationalism was a far stronger force in the region than today's increasing dominance of Islamic fundamentalism. I also became aware that the US's relations with Israel and with Zionism has not always been as strong as it is today and that at many points in history the US was more concerned about Arab issues than it was about Jewish issues in the region.

This is a strong read and if you want to know the genesis of today's headlines, it is a solid introduction to the history of American foreign policy in the Middle East. Just be prepared to invest some time since this is not a quick read. I highly recommend it.

Michael B. Oren makes history come to life in this saga that begins and ends with Dartmouth.

John Ledyard fled Dartmouth to escape a life in the ministry and circuitously sailed and debarked ships until Eurpoean connections landed him in Egypt, where he explored the Nile. Nathaniel Fick graduated from Dartmouth and became a Marine Corps Captain, where he also landed in Egypt as a stopover before being stationed in Kuwait and fighting in Iraq.

Covering the two centuries between, Oren leads us through a parade of U.S. Presidents, beginning with those faced with Barbary State piracy, imprisonment and ransom demands made on a spanking new nation with no navy. The transformation to a vital young power with its own "sea legs" is neither slick nor linear, with a few tragi-comic hiccoughs along the way.

Oren takes us through the stages of fascination with the exotic Middle East, brought to us with an admixture of horror from the likes of Herman Melville and Mark Twain; and Oren holds the mirror up to our eyes to behold tourists in parasols vandalising ruins for souvenirs, a parade of mutual shock and awe working both was between the visitors and the host natives.

We sit in on the plans of Christian restorationists, zealously dedicated to hastening the re-settlement of Jews in a Palestinian homeland of their own; and we are invited to explore the reactions of Palestines existing populations. Missionaries abound in a geographical setting were proselytizing might cost one his head. We also meet the likes of Samuel Marinus Zwemer and Hannibal Hamlin, who prefer reaching out to young Middle Eastern minds rather than capturing their souls, with marvelous, lasting effects and long-term economic benefits to the United States.

Oren weaves a tapestry of the real and the imgined, and the enhanced: Lawrence of Arabia, "A Thousand and One Arabian Nights," Little Egypt, "Innocents Abroad," and Sol Bloom's Cairo recreation at the Chicago Columbian Exposition of 1893.

Oren gives us a slide show, a side show and living history, ever taking care to counterbalance each perceptable bias with a counterweight, exploring both [all] sides of this sometime blinding prism.

The book is a must for one who wants a sound, vibrant social history of human relations in the Middle East, replete with promising and failed strategies. For those deeply academic history purists who like their history "straight," that's fine - this gives you some mahogany, a place to rest your glass.

Power Faith and Fantasy is an interesting book about the relationship between the US and the countries of the Middle East. This relationship has a long history going back to the declaration of American independence from England. Reading this tome helps the reader understand our current involvement in the region and put it into a realistic context.

I had a few problems with the book. Although the author's purpose is to elucidate this part of history, I felt that he occasionally was too focused on the relationship, losing sight of many other historical events. For example, to claim that the US navy was created in order to contain piracy within the Mediterranean Sea is a bit of an exaggeration. Although the battles in the Mediterranean may have been important, piracy in the Caribbean was much more threatening to US political and economic interests and was the primary driver behind the creation of the Navy. This is an example of misplaced emphasis that I found throughout much of this book.

Overall, this is a good book and useful for the reader of today, but it is not without faults.

Michael Oren has produced an impressive history of the United States' history of relations with the Middle East. Oren weaves throughout his history of the last 225 years the ideas of power, whether via military might or in American ideals, faith, religiously or politically focused, and fantasy, as in long running misconceptions about the nature of Middle East.

Oren traces the history of US interactions with the region starting with the first travelers to the region in the early years of the republic, including a friend of Thomas Jefferson named John Ledyard. Successive waves of adventurers moved throughout the region. Following the adventurers were missionaries who wanted to convert the "Mohammedans" to Christianity. Some of the missionaries ended up staying in the region and founded institutions that would eventually foster nationalism and anti-imperialism in the Arab population including many schools, universities and cultural centers. Other missionaries believed in the carrying out the biblical command of re-establishing the state of Israel, ushering in the return of the savior.

The 20th century brought about economic opportunities and war. America became intertwined with the fates of several countries of the Middle East, including Israel and Saudi Arabia, but also Iran and Iraq. Balancing the politics of each of these states with American's faith in their ideals and the fantasy of recreating the region in the image of the US has been the supreme challenge for our political leaders focusing on the region.

Oren's book is supreme for the first 500 pages. He admits at the beginning of the last section covering 1970s onward is both well-trod territory and incomplete because so much is still unknown. Oren's analysis of this period is obviously and unjustifiably sympathetic to a right wing narrative, downplaying many unsavory aspects for the political right (The USS Liberty, implying multiple times that spy Jonathan Pollard was a scapegoat, rather than the felon and traitor he really is, etc.).

Despite the weakness of the end of the book the whole is still an impressive feat. It is well worth the time it takes to make it through a few dozen chapters.

I highly recommend this book.

Michael Oren's "Six Days Of War" was a breathtaking read as it described the making of the modern Middle East. he follows it with "Power, Faith and Fantasy", which should be read by every person who wants a fuller perspective of the relationship between the United States and the Middle East.

American tensions with the area date to the 18th Century when Muslim potentates considered it proper to raid American shipping, steal ships and cargo and enslave American sailors. Over the years, Islamic and Arab cultures held a powerful attraction to many Americans, some of whom had dreams and fantasies of converting Muslims to Christianity, of resurrecting the ancient state of Israel. Others had nothing but disdain for Islamic civilization.

Modern politics and oil combined to make what would otherwise be a backwater a swirl of hate. Muslims have had an animus toward Jews since the founding of the religion. Concepts like democracy and individual freedom have never taken root in the Middle East. The formation of the modern State of Israel both as the fulfillment of the Zionist dream and a guilty world's penance for the tragedy of the genocide it ignored have remained a flashpoint for decades.

Oren provides no solutions or panaceas. What he does do is provide a comprehensive history of the United States and its relationship over the past two centuries that puts many things into perspective. The problems the Middle East nations have with the rest of the world are not new, which makes Oren's history all the more valuable and worth reading.

Jerry

"Power, Faith, and Fantasy" is even more more of a landmark than Oren's "Six Days of War". For many of us, American involvement with the Middle East is, or was, strictly a 20th century affair. Oren proves this wrong and manages to convey to the reader a firm sense of this involvement's continuity from the Declaration to the present. The work reads like thriller but is packed with information and is copiously footnoted.

Oren presents a cast of intriguing characters and host of anecdotes to describe the influences of power, faith and fantasy. Whether it is Sol Bloom's romantization of Cairo at the Chicago World's Fair, or early Evangelical efforts to settle the Holy Land with Jews, or the anti-Zionist perspective of the State Department, or the role of oil and the so-called "Arab Street", Oren weaves them all together into a seamless narrative with balance and professionalism. Zionists and Anti-Zionists, Arabists and Europhiles; missionaries, soldiers, diplomats; entertainers, writers, politicians; Jews, Christians, Muslims; men and women, young and old, solitary or in groups -- all are found here, pilgrims in mind and body, portrayed with warmth and candor.

Once again, Oren has written a vital history for any reader who truly seeks to overcome the morass of confusion about the Middle East today.

This book, unfortunately, is more FANTASY than anything else. Having studied this subject over the years I was looking forward to reading a good research that was cohesive and accurate all in one book. I was sadly disappointed. Would recommend not buying this book if you want the truth about the subject.

My job and lifestyle require many hours in the car traveling between radio stations. As a result, and due to the fact that I'm not a music afficienado, I have taken to listening to history lectures and novels on CD. I picked this audio book up because I was intrigued with the subject matter. I'm glad I did.

This is a fascinating history of America's involvement in the Middle East, from the early republic's conflict with Barbary pirates, to the establishment of the Jewish state and through the recent Palestinian conflicts. With our present day involvement in the region, it is incumbent on all good citizens to become familiar with the region, its history and the history of our country's entanglements therein. I must admit, after many hours of listening pleasure, I can only say that I'm not optimistic.

This is a thorough, thoughtful, and well-ordered history of America in the Middle East. I am a amateur historian with a degree. And I was in awe of Ambassador Oren's command of the subject, including nuances and anecdotes. In my humble Yankee view, Oren has matched his linear historical predecessor and another great historical domain expert, Abba Eban. And like Eban's writing, Oren's historical story telling will warm your heart, open your eyes, and make you feel part of it all.

Michael Oren's survey of U.S. relations with the "Middle East" (essentially defined here as the Arab world, with a bit of Turkey and Iran) provides a useful antidote to the notion that American involvement in the region dates only to FDR's cultivation of the Saudis and Truman's recognition of Israel. Instead, Oren weaves a fascinating tapestry of relations dating back to the founding of the American republic and the early campaigns against the Barbary pirates of North Africa, through two centuries of missionary and philantrophic activity, literary adventurism, and fitful bursts of diplomatic and military intervention.

Oren fits all of this into three frames of reference, which the book's sub-title labels as "power, faith and fantasy." The latter two are a nod to the fact that American attitudes toward the region were (and are) uniquely shaped by religious convictions and prejudices, as well as a fascination (often disappointed) with the "exotic Orient." Oren is able to show certains patterns of recurrence in American engagement in the region. One hopes that American policymakers today would read this book and realize that they are not the first ones to hope to bring the blessings of American politics and religion to the Middle East, and not the first to bring themselves a world of trouble as a result.

Oren's book is extremely useful up through the Second World War, in particular the struggles of FDR and Truman to balance their sympathies for Zionism with their desire for good relations with the Arab world. Unfortunately, his description of the tumultuous postwar years is rather cursory, and he misses opportunities to apply the lessons of the past more insightfully to the present. For an apparently fair-minded historian, Oren is too credulous of right-wing attempts to blame Bill Clinton for failing to prevent the September 11 attacks (nine months after he left office) and far, far too lenient on George W. Bush's harebrained adventure in Iraq. Perhaps Oren wanted his book to sound an optimistic note and highlight a history of (mostly) benevolent American intentions toward the region. But for whatever reason, he is unable to address the enormity of the disaster in Iraq, its causes or its consequences.

Less importantly, the book is marred by some surprising typographical errors and factual mistakes. (For example, the Mormon religion was founded by Joseph Smith, not John Smith). Oren is not an American historian by trade, but isn't this what editors get paid for?

I just finished reading Power, Faith, and Fantasy: America in the Middle East from 1776 to the Present by Michael B. Oren, an encyclopedic recent history of the Middle East. As an investor, you are going to have to be knowledgeable about this hot spot, because headlines from there will continue to impact global financial markets for the rest of our professional lives. It started when the Ottoman Empire was the controlling superpower of the day, and ruled over one third of the civilized world. Barbary pirate attacks led to the creation of the American navy, and in effect, the modern United States. Missionaries then spent 100 years attempting to convert Muslims to Christianity, with virtually no success. But they did provide a great well spring of future generations of Arabic speaking diplomats, military advisors, entrepreneurs, and spies. British bankers happily piled debt on to emerging Egypt during the US Civil War to grow more cotton for the mills in Manchester, and when that country declared the first ever sovereign debt default in 1875, they seized it as a colony. Up until WWI, the state department formed policy based on information found in travel guides. Today's Chevron managed to lock in crucial oil leases in Saudi Arabia because it offered to pay in gold, while Great Britain was bidding with only paper rupees. The book tracks the Zionist movement from its infancy to the foundation of Israel, spilling much blood along the way. It Chronicles the Arabs' recovery of their own oil resources, from the takeover of Aramco to the nationalist movements of today. The procession of Mideast wars are chronicled in painstaking detail. As a lifetime habitué of the international investment scene, it's hard to avoid the Middle East. I entered the scene as a journalist in the seventies, interviewing the principals for The Economist, and managing to catch the inaugural El Al flight from Tel Aviv to Cairo. I grabbed the opportunity to meet Golda Meir, who remained a domineering school teacher to the end, and was almost shot by Yassir Arafat's bodyguard during an interview. I then spent a decade covering Persian Gulf princes and sheiks for Morgan Stanley. The week I retired, I was drafted to fly for the Marine Corp in desert shield/desert storm. In all, the 778 page opus leaves no stone unturned and delivers a riveting read.

-The Mad Hedge Fund Trader

The detailed history ends somewhere in the 80s, but the book contains material up until the early 2000s.

Understanding the Middle East is not easy. This book takes an American perspective and the author is pro-Israel. However, the book is not at all propaganda. The book doesn't glorify all American and Israeli actions. As far as I can tell, the retelling of the basic history is quite objective. Where the book is slightly annoying is in the characterisation of individuals and actions. When Israel does something contrary to American wishes that is described in short neutral language, but when the Palestinians do it, the language becomes more expressive and elaborated. Palestinians slaughter while Israelis conduct military actions. I write 'slightly annoying' because this book is still more objective and neutral than most US media outlets.

You can't understand the region without understanding the different standpoints of many different actors. This book contains a decidedly American perspective. One thing that I found very interesting was the religious motivations behind many US actions. I am not talking about Bush, but about Kennedy, Johnson, Carter, and others. The insight that American Christianity greatly influences American policy might be obvious if you think about it, but this book makes the point very clear.

One of the best histories I've ever read. Packed with more information than one couldn't possibly hope to retain. I don't believe I had ever even heard of the Barbary Wars before reading this book. Possibly the most enlightening information were the chapters dealing with the American evangelical missionaries in the Middle East thru out the 19th century, this is the first respectable book I've read that laid out American christian's 100 years old obession with Palenstine. I highly recommend this book it is filled with treasures, Eygtian invasion of Mexico, Civil War heroes training arab armies, Christians failing to convert anyone but instead plant the seeds of secular education and Arad Nationalism, and the origins of the Saudi-US "friendship" just a great book!

This is an excellent analysis of the early history of U.S. involvement in the political and cultural affairs of the the Middle East. The last section, on post-WWII entanglements, is by admission of the author a VERY condensed overview. The reader will want to flesh out his account by reading more specialized histories of the various events following WWII.

This is a brilliantly written book, which identifies many of the major historical influences that have contributed to the current state of affairs in the region today. Mr. Oren weaves different stories together from various periods of history to create a complete and compelling account of the influence of the US in the region from colonial times up to the present day. The book is humorous, insightful and awe-inspiring; anyone who considers themselves a student of history should read this book to gain a greater appreciation of our (the United States') involvement with a region so near and dear to many of us.

Any parochial notion that America only recently stumbled into the maelstrom of Middle Eastern religious and political conflict will not long survive this entertaining, though flawed, survey of Americans' encounters with the region since the War of Independence. Oren identifies three overarching themes that have shaped the country's attitudes towards the Middle East (they're right there in the title, in case that weren't already obvious) and sticks manfully to a rotating tripartite structure through the volume, though the last chapter, which covers the period from the birth of Israel to the Iraq War, is hopelessly rushed and inadequate. A large number of typos and avoidable errors of fact, coupled with a prose style that can best be described as earnestly clunky, will probably set one's teeth on edge more than once, but there is plenty of information here that will come as a surprise to the average reader (for example, did you know that American veterans of the Civil War - both Union and Confederate - essentially created the Egyptian army? I certainly didn't). It's not a book I care to own, but I'm glad to have read it. One suggestion for future works, Mr. Oren: Describing each and every major personage's physical appearance is a luxury only, NOT a requirement!

This is a brilliantly written book, which identifies many of the major historical influences that have contributed to the current state of affairs in the region today. Mr. Oren weaves different stories together from various periods of history to create a complete and compelling account of the influence of the US in the region from colonial times up to the present day. The book is humorous, insightful and awe-inspiring; anyone who considers themselves a student of history should read this book to gain a greater appreciation of our (the United States') involvement with a region so near and dear to many of us.

This books fills a void by presenting an unique American historical point of view linking religion with politics, not present in most books.
Very well worth reading. It is detailed from 1776 through the establishment of modern day Israel. It will contribute to the reader's understanding of the current Middle East and is objective. The author readily admits that this book only summarizes events taking place after 1950 as so many other books already cover this.

Any parochial notion that America only recently stumbled into the maelstrom of Middle Eastern religious and political conflict will not long survive this entertaining, though flawed, survey of Americans' encounters with the region since the War of Independence. Oren identifies three overarching themes that have shaped the country's attitudes towards the Middle East (they're right there in the title, in case that weren't already obvious) and sticks manfully to a rotating tripartite structure through the volume, though the last chapter, which covers the period from the birth of Israel to the Iraq War, is hopelessly rushed and inadequate. A large number of typos and avoidable errors of fact, coupled with a prose style that can best be described as earnestly clunky, will probably set one's teeth on edge more than once, but there is plenty of information here that will come as a surprise to the average reader (for example, did you know that American veterans of the Civil War - both Union and Confederate - essentially created the Egyptian army? I certainly didn't). It's not a book I care to own, but I'm glad to have read it. One suggestion for future works, Mr. Oren: Describing each and every major personage's physical appearance is a luxury only, NOT a requirement!

A seemingly complete history of our relationship with the Middle East (unless you are an expert I assume). The author describes with rich historical detail how we prevailed in our long and complex struggle with the Barbary states when we were a relatively small and weak nation, and now as a super power, how we got into another long and complex struggle in that same crucially important part of the world.
Mr. Oren does not make any predictions (not appropriate for a good historian whose stock and trade is documented facts) but you would think that in the long-run we should prevail again in some fashion.

This very readable book argues that the three motives of geopolitical power, religious faith, and fantasy about a perceived exotic region, have prompted American policy, investment, and travel to the middle east. Author Michael Oren brings up much factual material with which I was unfamiliar before reading the book. His arguments seem persuasive, too.

Trouble is, the author has problems with the facts. Please refer to other reviews (Frequent Reader 6/21/07, Dave 42 6/24/07, German Filguera 10/29/07, and Yuksel Oktay 12/29/07) for some pretty major mistaken facts.

I don't recall which if any of these reviews I read before I read the book, but I wasn't looking for errors. When factual errors in matters with which I was familiar kept leaping out at me, I wondered about what I had "learned" and about his conclusions. Here are some false details I noticed as I read that the author could have easily corrected:
- pp. 83 et seq., he conflates the Pilgrims and the Puritans, entirely different religious groups.
- p. 90, Smyrna is referred to as "one of the seven churches toured by Saint Paul[.]" Paul toured many more than 7 churches, and founded most of these. If he visited Smyrna, the Bible doesn't say. (John the Revelator wrote to 7 churches, one of them being Smyrna.)
- p. 197, Frank Stone "graduated second in his West Point class, just behind George Armstrong Custer[.]" Nobody finished behind Custer at West Point. He was famously last in his class.
- pp. 413-415, Standard Oil Co. of California was known as SOCOL. My recollection of its nickname in the days before it became Chevron is SoCal, confirmed by Wikipedia who also gives it once as SOCAL. No references to SOCOL anywhere in Wikipedia, and a Google search with "SOCOL" and "oil" yields, for the only company with that name, an oil company in Jordan that does not appear to be affiliated with Chevron.

Maybe the false facts I knew about are minor, but this fits in with the pattern shown in the other reviews. All in all, it makes one wonder about the other facts cited by Oren, and his conclusions.

Get ready to learn sooooo much about America in the Middle East that you will blown away. This is a massive book based on equally impressive research. It is also engagingly written by a historian which I personally respect and trust very much. I am glad that people who likes to read books on such topics will have the opportunity to enjoy another must read book by Oren. After all, if we don't know the past how we can direct and more importantly predict the future at a time when the Middle East becomes a hotter spot from historical, political and economical point of view. That's why I strongly recommend this book to every person who wants to be thoroughly informed.

Wow. Mr. Oren has brought me from a virtual apathy of history, to near zealousness, that I didn't know that I had in me. I read this only to forestall the nagging of a friend, and am so glad that I did. The book, written in an utterly unbiased and balanced way, reveals the reasons behind current policy and cultural tensions that we're dealing with now in contemporary America. Mr. Oren also is able to corroborate his findings with solid facts, with an extensive bibliography.

Simply fascinating. This book has opened up a whole new realm of interest to me. I can't wait to read "Sufferings in Africa" as well as many others referenced in Mr. Orens work.

It is well-known that America has been the dominant Western power in the Middle East since the Second World War, taking over the role from the weakened empires of France and Britain. It is less well-known, however, that America was involved long before that, as far back as the Revolutionary War. And now Israeli historian Michael Oren has given us a very well-written and thoroughly researched history of that involvement.

Having always had a notion of why the Marines were formed and what they were doing on the shores of Tripoli, I now have a better picture of those climatic events. Oren tells us that 20 percent of America's exports were being shipped to the Mediterranean in the late 1700's. No longer protected by the British Navy, many of these ships were attacked and plundered by pirates operating along the North African coast. (Barbary pirates actually referred to Berbers.) Europeans were having the same problem and often provided bribes as an alternative to protection. America was faced with this same dilemma and debated which way to go for about ten years, but ultimately decided on military force; hence, the formation of the Marine Corps.

Interestingly enough, the debate in America then was similar to the one we hear today about Iraq: on the one hand, there were those who wanted retribution for lost cargo and the enslavement of American citizens, yet other hand, there were those who didn't think it was worth the expense or the possible loss of life. One cannot help but think that Oren had his eye on the history book market when he found this parallel.

Although the initial encounters illustrate America's commercial interests in the Middle East, Oren shows that the entanglement goes deeper. There is an anecdote about an NYU professor who published a pamphlet in 1844 arguing for a Jewish homeland in Palestine - the professor's name was George Bush, a distant relative of the current president. More seriously, there were many Christians who identified with Jewish rights, mostly evangelical Protestants. These missionaries spread the gospel whenever possible, but they also provided healthcare and education, witness the creation of the American Universities of Cairo and Beirut. Oren rightly claims that Woodrow Wilson's support of the Balfour Declaration and Harry Truman's staunch support of Israel was actually not in America's economic interests, but rather appealed America's religious sensibilities. This is what the Faith and Fantasy of the title refers to.

Cynical Europeans and academicians steeped in Edward Said's "Orientalism" will argue that the American invasion of Iraq was only about oil and power. To which I will say, yes, that was part of the calculation, but the reality was more complex. Wouldn't it have been easier and cheaper to cut a deal with Saddam Hussein if it had been just about oil? American idealism was at work and it has gotten us in a quagmire. After 9/11 more than a few pundits were excited about changing the conditions that created terrorism. Now many of those same pundits are telling us that the Middle East is not fertile ground for democracy. America has always wavered between pragmatism and idealism in its dealings with the Middle East and Oren has written an excellent history of this ongoing drama.

The book is a very good reference book and Michael does a good job at trying and I repeat trying to keep his voice and opinion out of the pages. It is when his voice and opinions seep through that you can tell he is writing from a conservative view point. I give him credit for his voice not in anyway ruining the amount of quotes, reference points, statistics, and facts that are thoroughly made in this book. If one can read this book and and not take the subtle insults and jabs he gives sparingly to people most not like himself then there is a lot to learn and read in these pages. Sometimes his views were irritating, but he limits his voice a lot and enough for me to continue reading. I get the feeling he did try his hardest to give both sides of many stories and of the different countries as he could. It is clear he is a scholar and provided the information I was looking for as to how America involved itself in the Middle East. I would like to read someone's book with with another view, but I'm a little tired after reading his 600pg book and that will have to wait. The only reason I give it 4 stars is because it is a hard read, and I probably couldn't imagine it ever being an easy read with the amount of information he has to give accurately. I also give it 4 stars because when I hear his voice in the lines I can hear is political view point and that gets annoying.

"Power, Faith, and Fantasy" is a very balanced book. I think that Oren has gone above and beyond in his efforts to be objective. This book should be required reading for all those who study American policy in the Middle East. I enjoyed reading reading the propaganda lines used by politicians in 1800 which are the same as those used today. For example: If the Barbary Pirates are not dealt with, "they will soon invade the shores of America!" (never mind the pirates did not have ships capable of making the voyage across the Atlantic). Today's line is "if we leave Iraq/Afghanistan, the terrorists will follow us home."

I have enjoyed every word of this book (including the words which I had to look up in a dictionary while reading the book). Oren makes great use of the English language in crafting the amazing tales of American adventures and misadventures in the Middle East.

Michael Oren's book presents essential information for anybody who wants to understand the background for America's current policies and involvement in the Middle East. It is presented from a particular point of view, naturally. Oren is an American-born historian who lives in Israel and, of course, identifies with the Jewish State. He is a military reserve officer there (as is most of the non-Orthodox adult male population) who has seen combat, and that has to color ones views, although given the historic disputatiousness of Israeli society, that doesn't necessarily dictate what those views will be. (We have to remember that Israel is a democracy in which there is lots of active dissent from the policies pursued by the government.) It is also an interesting datum that Oren opposed the U.S.'s current war in Iraq during the period prior to the invasion....

At any event, I found this book endlessly fascinating. Oren knows how to tell a good story, and there are plenty of good stories packed in here. I was fascinated by the account of how American oil companies first got a foothold in the Middle East, at a time when the U.S. State Department was, according to Oren, pretty much oblivious to the potential significance of such engagement. And Oren's accounts of the travails of American Protestant missionaries working in the 19th century Middle Eastern provinces of the Ottoman Empire are entertaining and instructive.

To me, the last chapter of the book, recounting the history from after the foundation of the state of Israel to the present, is a big let-down. Oren prefaces this chapter by pointing out that this period of the history is, unlike what came before, much written about, heavily documented from the public record and, conversely, hard to write something new about because so much of the important information is contained in inaccessible documentation, much of it classified for security purposes. And thus, in effect he punted on this and provide a rather breathless, broad brush view of the past 60 years that lacks the depth of his approach to the period from the 1780s forward to 1948. The last section also shows signs of haste in writing and editing, including a proliferation of proofreading flaws that are not so evident in the earlier parts of the book. I suspect that he was writing against a deadline and had to rush the last part to meet it.

Indeed, I think this book would have made more sense as an account running from the foundation of the U.S.A. in the 1780s to the foundation of the modern state of Israel in 1948, essentially the first 500 pages, capped off with an epilog integrating what had gone before. But I'm told by somebody in the business that such a book would be much less marketable, because people are, at least superficially, less interested in the older history and thus less likely to buy a book that is not promoted as bringing the story up to the present.

So I downgrade this by one star due to the disappointments of the last section, but for the first 500 pages this is a 5-star book in my estimation.

Full disclosure: I am a friend of Mr. Oren's editor at WW Norton, and received an advanced copy of the book, although I didn't really get to reading it until after it had gone on public sale, but the views expressed are my own based on my own reading of the book.

Oren's book offers an interesting description of 18th and 19th century Americans' vision of, and relations with, the Middle East. It includes good accounts of early American visitors to the region, the naval/pirate conflicts with North African states, and the origins of American evangelical ideas that Jews needed to be returned to the Holy Land. (Two of Oren's fun facts: the Star-Spangled Banner has its origins in an earlier work by Francis Scott Key on the conflict with the Barbary states, and the Statue of Liberty was a remodeled version of colossal statue that was supposed to depict the enlightenment of Egypt).

As the book plunges into the 20th century it becomes less adequate. Oren explains that he does not feel obligated to give more than a brief survey of events in the Cold War and after. That seems fair enough; the book is already 600 pages. But even before the post-1948 survey, the desire to chronicle what happened seems to overwhelm any incisive interpretation. The significance of oil in shaping relations and policy is definitely described, but it seems like it deserves a more prominent place. Also, Oren makes this grand claim in the final pages of the book: "On balance, Americans historically brought far more beneficence than avarice to the Middle East and caused significantly less harm than good." Does the history of US relations with Middle Eastern states really support that analysis? It seems a particularly risky proposition in 2008, with the US mired in Iraq. How would one go about trying to tabulate such a balance sheet? How would one factor in US bolstering of dictatorial regimes in places like Saudi Arabia? Or the overturning of a nationalist Iranian government by the CIA? Oren's own history shows how little Americans actually understood about the region and its people, even as they attempted to shape its future. It seems unlikely that a basically imperial perspective could also coincidentally be the basis for a good policy that put the people of the Middle East first. Oren seems to be falling into the trap that he describes in his book. His final judgment oddly seems to reinforce the myths about the American role in the region as a champion of enlightenment. It understates how much US policy was driven fundamentally by what all states are driven by: strategic interests and demand for economic resources.

Oren's writing style makes this book a pleasure to read, though it also stands on its merits as a book that is packed with historical information conducive to gaining an understanding of America's involvement in the Middle East.

In this ambitious study of American attitudes toward the Middle East and its peoples--- and multiple centuries of American involvement in the same region---I was surprised to find that out of everyone in the world who might have advocated it, the real desire to revive Palestine as a Jewish nation, based on it having been one of the hereditary homes to ancient Jews, seems to have had its first significant stirrings of non-Jewish advocacy among American Christians. Building on earlier hopes of their ancestors, nineteenth-century U.S. evangelical missionaries, intent on restoring Jews to what is today Israel (largely with a goal of bringing about the return of Christ, whose second coming was foretold in Revelation as taking place after the return of Jews to Zion) not only funded Jewish re-settlement in what was then Ottoman territory, but in significant numbers many went themselves to set up schools, hospitals and encampments.

This book also tells stories of what amounts to failure following and failure, confused mistake following confused mistake, as America continually stumbled idealistically into a region with very deep problems of its own. Here one reads about Abraham Lincoln's eloquently-voiced desires to see the Jews return to Palestine, and about Harry S. Truman's veiled messianic complex as he single-mindedly backed the modern Israeli state. Here one reads about Thomas Jefferson's romantic views on Islam, and Cotton Mather's railings against it. Here one sees that this nation has had policies regarding the eastern Mediterranean and southwest Asia for well over three centuries. Whether it is doing battle with eighteenth-century pirates along the shores of Tripoli, or trying to secure order in twenty-first-century Baghdad, America has long been embroiled in this distant region, and this book sheds some light as to why.

Power, Faith, And Fantasy is worth investing time into, and it should surprise many who read objectively and discover that there really has never been a time when this "nation under God" has not had a hand in stirring the boiling cauldron of the Biblical Holy Land. Finally, if we are to look to the past for the key to the future, then there is little reason to expect things will be different in the decades ahead.

In "Power, Faith and Fantasy," Michael Oren displays his extensive knowledge about US involvement in the Middle East from the birth of America through the present. And he weaves his information into interesting stories. However, I was disappointed that he did not leverage his knowledge and offer suggestions in his Epilogue about what the US can and should do to stabilize the region and enhance the US' position there.

I was also very disappointed that he so easily dismissed the role and contribution of T. E. Lawrence as someone who accomplished nothing. Other noted historians and analysts have written thousands of pages about Lawrence of Arabia which depict him as a great man and a hero. Oren must know something that these other authors do not--but he has not shared them in this book.

I give three stars to "Power, Faith and Fantasy"--it's OK and not great.

As the title indicates, this book reviews US history in the Middle East from 1776 to 2006. The most interesting part for me was the first half which takes you up to WWI. I had no idea how ignorant I was about our pre-WWI history there, even though I've now read several books on the Middle East. Especially for a history book, it reads very well. It is fascinating, educational, sheds light on our current conflicts, and should be read by anyone with an interest in the subject.

It is written from an American point of view. But it is factual.
The author accurately described the relations between the United States and the Arab World.
Some statement can be attested other debated.
In general, it is a good book. I give it 5 stars.

S. Mahdi, Cairo, Egypt.

To anyone who really cares about what is going on in the middle east and how it came to be that way, this is a truly great historically accurate interpretation of very complex issues facing us in the 21st century.

I have learned so much fascinating history from this book. I never expected it to be such a page-turner as it was. I had trouble putting it down til the end.

This is great synopsis of the history of the American and Middle East involvement. At many times it is very involved with the people who the author is writing about.

Michael Oren's book is both scholarly and very entertaining. That's usually a difficult combination to achieve, but one made easier for him by the dearth of previous books comprehensively covering U.S. relations with the Middle East since 1776. So there are plenty of "wow's", "really's" and "heh, I never imagined that's" in this book. They make it a lot of fun. But, though they are entertaining, this is also a very serious book. The "gee-whiz" aspect merely reveals how little most of us knew about an American engagement with the Middle East which began well before the epoch when American oil drillers struck it rich in Saudi Arabia in the 1930s.

Those previous 150 years of history are well worth knowing. And they inform today, to include the fact that the current evangelical Christian romance with Israel dates not from the last 20 years or so, but has been a waxing and waning phenomenon for 150 years depending on the strength of religious revivalism in America. That insight alone, which takes up a considerable part of the book, makes it well worth reading.

The last fifth of the book is disappointing, but Mr. Oren is an honest man and in his preface practically tells you that it will be and that he really did not want to write it: it is the history of the Middle East from about 1950 on. He doesn't feel he has adequate (declassified government document) sources. It has a sort of breathless, once-over- lightly perfunctory approach suggesting he just wanted to get through it as quickly as possible. It also unhappily gives vent to two failures of objectivity on his part as an Israeli author who otherwise plays the history of Israeli/Arab conflicts remarkably straight: 1) his unqualified claim that the Israeli air attack on the U.S. naval ship "Liberty" during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war was an accident (this remains controversial and there is considerable evidence to the contrary); and 2) his breezy and illogical attempt to dismiss the espionage activities perpetrated against the United States by the Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard.

These are truly irritating lapses, but in the larger scale of things they are minor flaws which leave the author's objectivity still pretty much intact. Mr. Oren, as he announced in an NPR interview recently, is a proud Israeli special forces reservist of 30 years' standing. That makes all the more extraordinary his generally even-handed account of Arab/Israeli history, including, for example, how certain key Jewish leaders in the early 20th century advocated a bi-national Arab/Jewish state rather than a Zionist one because they foresaw the conflict the latter would bring.

So, this is about as honest and non-polemical a book as one can expect about a very emotional subject these days; it is fascinating in the historical perspective it provides on U.S. engagement with and major influence on the development of the modern Middle East; and, except for the post-1948 hundred or so pages, it is a very entertaining read. I highly recommend it.

This is an inspirational and insightful account of the power play amongst important players who have shaped the history of the Middle East and the impact it has had on the current state of affairs there,especially in Iraq, Iran and the Palestinian Question. One of the questions it seeks to answer is whether the blending of power, faith and fantasy will inspire and point towards addressing some of the more pressing issues in the Middle East. This is Michael Oren at his delightful best!

This is an excellent book - as the title indicates, it gives the reader a thorough insight into the history of the US in the Middle East from 1776 to today. There's a lot of stuff that will surprise the reader but for me the best part was stuff that I had heard of and was only vaguely familiar with but now I feel I have a good understanding of. Examples are the Barbary Wars, the beginnings of oil exploration, the missionary activities and the opening of universities and the anti-Israel attitudes within our State Dept. Oren is an outstanding writer who makes history interesting. I highly recomend this book.

This is a very good accounting of the relationship between the United States and the Middle East going clear back to George Washington. Having lived and worked in the Middle East for 13 years I think the author captured the attitudes and tone of the people of that area. The author's writing style makes it a very interesting read and includes a great deal of information that would be of interest to the jewish readers. Well worth the price.

I bought this book expecting an insightful book, and the content filled my expectations. The author does a sufficient job in providing information without being dry and most importantly, with little detectable bias. With a topic like this, it would be prudent to be a little reserved regardless of the authors background but there was no propaganda involved. Overall it is a good read, smooth flow, continuity and can make you feel a little more knowledgeable apart from what you hear on the news every day.

Interesting book, captivating in the beginning. Quite biased though.

I can point out two cases where Mr.Oren might have filtered historical fact through his own prism in order to convey certain ideas:

Mr.Oren dedicates few lines on page 248 to the plight of thousands of Bulgarians in the Ottoman empire, being massacred by the hundreds in the years before the Liberation in 1878. Having described previously the ethico-political dilemma faced by the US administration, Mr.Oren informs us that the US State Department sent two investigators to the region, whose reports "emboldened the Russians to attack the Ottomans in 1887", but didn't lead to any actions from the side of the US, that instead chose to preserve the good tone with the Porte. Page 311 writes about the "Bulgarian bandits", who "forgetting America's earlier contribution to Bulgaria's struggle for independence", kidnapped an American missionary named Ellen Stone. The history remembers the case as "The Miss Ellen Affair" and is one of the most controversial pages of the Bulgarian history. After her release Ms Ellen herself bacame one of the voices of Bulgaria's struggle for independence. And more importantly, the only substantial and real contributor to Bulgaria's freedom at the time is the Russian Empire and some 105 467 of its soldiers, who perished on the battle fields, 91 652 wounded, and 3 500 missing.

And more importantly - speaking of enlightenment,education and the rise of nationalist ideas in the region Mr.Oren barely mentions few graduates from the American missionary schools and builds up the impression that this period is absolutely void of substantial intelectual activity. In fact the period had figures like Jamal ad-Diin al-Afghani, Mohammad Abdo, Abd ar-Rahman Kawakibi, Rifaat Rafi Tahtawi.

Something about the way this book was written prevented me from really getting into it. It is almost as though the author laid out an outline with page limits for each section, and forced himself to fill up each time period with random information. What results are some boring stretches in the first half during which little happens, and stretches in the second half during which too much happens.

The biggest issue with this book can be summarized by the picture section. Almost every picture is a close up portrait of some dead man's head. That pointless, boring focus on individuals at the expense of the vivid imagery taking place in the Middle East at that time struck me as a major mistake, and it was plainly evident throughout the text. At times, the book seems like a series of poorly constructed mini-biographies, and it made for a dull, boring, read.

I am glad to see that the majority of reviews are better, and I can hardly understand how difficult it would be to put together a book of this magnitude, but I was personally underwhelmed by the end result.

A very interesting and well written book. I worked and lived in the Middle East for 13 years and the author captured the attitude and tone of the people. He made what could be a boring subject into a engaing experience. Any mistakes noticed were very minor ones. The book should also be of interest to any Jewish readers because it is very informative of their plite during this time period.
Robert

I thought of myself as well-versed in Middle East history, but this book exposed my glaring ignorance! There was a revelation in almost every page. Although I am not fond of the author's viewpoint, I greatly admire his research. Well done!

The Turkish Republic created from the crumbled Ottoman Empire is not even mentioned in the chronology of events that shaped the Middle East.

The book is a survey of U.S. involvement in the Middle East over the past 230 years, beginning in 1776, with a chronology of events listing major events from 1776 to 2006 and presents a map of the Middle East and Israel,

For the year 1923, the the chronology includes the following:

1923 Khalil Gibran's The Prophet is published.

There is no mention of the establishment of the Republic of Turkey and incredibly, nothing about the accomplishments of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, who is still an inspiration to many leaders in the Middle East and other countries around the world. This is what Michael B. Oren writes about Mustafa Kemal under the title "Postwar Postmortem."

"The Ottoman Empire , the forbidding and exotic polity that, for centuries, had dominated the crossroads of the world, alternately terrorizing and enchanting Westerners - Americans included - was demolished.

But not Turkey . A forty-year-old general named Mustapha Kemal, the hero of Gallipoli, refused to accept the San Remo dictate and rallied the army against it. Three years later, Kemal - later to take the title Ataturk (father of the Turks) had succeeded in driving all foreign troops from Anatolian homeland. Collaborating with the Soviets, Kemal crushed the Armenian independence movement and suppressed Kurdish separatists. In the Symrna area, tens of thousands of Armenians and Greeks were killed and 250,000 people expelled as Turkish troops sacked and burned the city." These are all false statements and lacks real information on Turkey.

There is very little about Turkey and Ataturk, except a reference to the Lausanne Treaty signed on July 24, 1923 (p.394) and notes on minor incidents during the Ottoman period. No mention of the creation of the Republic of Turkey or the many reforms in the 778 page book with 32 pages photographs, excluding Turks.

Many books and articles are published around the world frequently by Armenians who present a one sided view their relocations that took place during and after the First World War without ever mentioning the Armenian rebellions, which is a sad chapter in the history of the Armenians and the Turks. And there are those like Michael B. Oren who simply present information that supports the Armenian point of view, totally ignoring the Turkish side of the events, as if they are totally against the presence of Turkey in the Middle East. There are over 35 pages devoted to the Armenians and the Armenian genocide and, in a review of the book included in the back cover, Henry Kissinger states: A tour the force, brilliantly researched and written, and extremely interesting, as well as informative."

Yuksel oktay, PE
Washington, NJ

History always teaches us and this book was enlightening to me. The US involvement with the mid east dates back more than 200 years now.

Our current position in this region was shaped and set years ago, primarily a response to the Cold War...facts that many people may not know.