The Pragmatic Superpower: Winning the Cold War in the Middle East
The Pragmatic Superpower: Winning the Cold War in the Middle East

Author: Ray Takeyh

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company

Published: 2016-04-18

Total Pages: 475

ISBN-13: 0393285561

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A bold reexamination of U.S. influence in the Middle East during the Cold War. The Arab Spring, Iran’s nuclear ambitions, the Iraq war, and the Syrian civil war—these contemporary conflicts have deep roots in the Middle East’s postwar emergence from colonialism. In The Pragmatic Superpower, foreign policy experts Ray Takeyh and Steven Simon reframe the legacy of U.S. involvement in the Arab world from 1945 to 1991 and shed new light on the makings of the contemporary Middle East. Cutting against conventional wisdom, the authors argue that, when an inexperienced Washington entered the turbulent world of Middle Eastern politics, it succeeded through hardheaded pragmatism—and secured its place as a global superpower. Eyes ever on its global conflict with the Soviet Union, America shrewdly navigated the rise of Arab nationalism, the founding of Israel, and seminal conflicts including the Suez War and the Iranian revolution. Takeyh and Simon reveal that America’s objectives in the region were often uncomplicated but hardly modest. Washington deployed adroit diplomacy to prevent Soviet infiltration of the region, preserve access to its considerable petroleum resources, and resolve the conflict between a Jewish homeland and the Arab states that opposed it. The Pragmatic Superpower provides fascinating insight into Washington’s maneuvers in a contest for global power and offers a unique reassessment of America’s cold war policies in a critical region of the world. Amid the chaotic conditions of the twenty-first century, Takeyh and Simon argue that there is an urgent need to look back to a period when the United States got it right. Only then will we better understand the challenges we face today.

The Iraqi Kurds and the Cold War
The Iraqi Kurds and the Cold War

Author: Hawraman Ali

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2020-02-17

Total Pages: 208

ISBN-13: 1000766055

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Examining the effects of the Cold War and regional politics on the Iraqi Kurds between 1958 and 1975, this study demonstrates how regional and international powers sought to exploit the Iraqi Kurds in their quest for statehood. The research draws on a plethora of British and American archival documents and select Soviet and Iranian sources integrated with Kurdish authoritative and eyewitness accounts. The work explores the Iraqi Kurds on three levels: Firstly, on a national Iraqi level, starting with the Iraqi Revolution in 1958 to the collapse of the Kurds’ liberation movement in 1975 under Mela Mustafa Barzani. Secondly, it considers the issue on a regional level by examining the political dynamics between Iran (under the Shah), Iraq, Egypt (thus Nasserists) and other regional states, with a focus on these states’ relations and tensions. Thirdly, it scrutinises the impact of the Cold War on the politics and history of Iraq, focussing on the effects on the Kurds in particular. Complementing the existing literature, this volume builds a chronological narrative through historical analysis. It is a key resource for students, scholars, policymakers and regional experts interested in Kurdish history, foreign policy, politics and security in the Middle East.

Re-Engaging the Middle East
Re-Engaging the Middle East

Author: Dafna H. Rand

Publisher: Brookings Institution Press

Published: 2020-09-22

Total Pages: 332

ISBN-13: 0815737629

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It's time for new policies based on changing U.S. interests U.S. policy in the Middle East has had very few successes in recent years, so maybe it's time for a different approach. But is the new approach of the Trump administration—military disengagement coupled with unquestioning support for key allies--Israel, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia—the way forward? In this edited volume, noted experts on the region lay out a better long-term strategy for protecting U.S. interests in the Middle East. The authors articulate a vision that is both self-interested and carefully tailored to the unique dynamics of the increasingly divergent sub-regions in the Middle East, including North Africa, the Sunni Arab bloc of Egypt and Persian Gulf states, and the increasingly chaotic Levant. The book argues that the most effective way to pursue and protect U.S. interests is unlikely to involve the same alliance-centric approach that has been the basis of Washington's policy since the 1990s. Instead, the United States should adopt a nimbler and less military-dominant strategy that relies on a diversified set of partners and a determination to establish priorities for American interests and the use of resources, both financial and military. In essence, the book calls for a new post-Obama and post-Trump approach to the region that reflects the fact that U.S. interests are changing and likely will continue to change. The book offers a fresh perspective in advance of the 2020 presidential election.

Cold War
Cold War

Author: Carole K. Fink

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2021-11-29

Total Pages: 369

ISBN-13: 100048081X

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Now in its third edition, Cold War provides an accessible and comprehensive account of the decades-long conflict between two nuclear-armed Superpowers during the twentieth century. This book offers a broader timeline than any other Cold War text, charting the lead-up to the conflict from the Russian Revolution to World War II, providing an authoritative narrative and analysis of the period between 1945 and 1991, and scrutinizing the 30-year aftermath, including the prospect of a "new Cold War." In this new edition, Carole K. Fink provides new insights and perspectives on key events, with an emphasis on people, power, and ideas. The third edition covers developments in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America as well as in Europe. It also includes Eleven new or revised maps that illustrate the global reach of the long conflict An extended chronology that includes recent international events A discussion of the post-Cold War roles of the US, Russia, and China in world politics An updated bibliography reflecting new scholarship in Cold War and post-Cold War history Cold War is the consummate book on this complex twentieth-century rivalry and will be of interest to students of contemporary US and international history and history enthusiasts alike.

Middle East Politics
Middle East Politics

Author: Mahmood Monshipouri

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2019-06-11

Total Pages: 439

ISBN-13: 0429594151

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Aimed at undergraduate-level courses, this brand-new textbook provides an overview of Middle Eastern politics, offering in-depth examination of the forces of stability, change, uncertainty, and progress in the region. Building on both historical and contemporary analysis, the chapters are timely, engaging, and provocative, covering topics such as: Turmoil and transition in Middle Eastern politics The Arab-Israeli conflict The Persian Gulf and global security The rise of the internet Terrorism and the Islamic State US-Iran relations The role of new regional players, such as China, India, and Russia Increasing investment in wind and solar energy in the post-carbon era. Providing a unique perspective on the major themes and current state of knowledge about the region, this new textbook will be invaluable to students of Middle Eastern politics.

The Cold War: A Very Short Introduction
The Cold War: A Very Short Introduction

Author: Robert J. McMahon

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2021-02-25

Total Pages: 208

ISBN-13: 0192603272

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Very Short Introductions: Brilliant, Sharp, Inspiring The Cold War dominated international life from the end of World War II to the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. But how did the conflict begin? Why did it move from its initial origins in Postwar Europe to encompass virtually every corner of the globe? And why, after lasting so long, did the war end so suddenly and unexpectedly? Robert McMahon considers these questions and more, as well as looking at the legacy of the Cold War and its impact on international relations today. The Cold War: A Very Short Introduction is a truly international history, not just of the Soviet-American struggle at its heart, but also of the waves of decolonization, revolutionary nationalism, and state formation that swept the non-Western world in the wake of World War II. McMahon places the 'Hot Wars' that cost millions of lives in Korea, Vietnam, and elsewhere within the larger framework of global superpower competition. He shows how the United States and the Soviet Union both became empires over the course of the Cold War, and argues that perceived security needs and fears shaped U.S. and Soviet decisions from the beginning—far more, in fact, than did their economic and territorial ambitions. He unpacks how these needs and fears were conditioned by the divergent cultures, ideologies, and historical experiences of the two principal contestants and their allies. Covering the years 1945-1990, this second edition uses recent scholarship and newly available documents to offer a fuller analysis of the Vietnam War, the changing global politics of the 1970s, and the end of the Cold War. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Routledge Handbook of China–India Relations
Routledge Handbook of China–India Relations

Author: Kanti Bajpai

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2020-02-25

Total Pages: 750

ISBN-13: 135100154X

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The Routledge Handbook of China–India Relations provides a much-needed understanding of the important and complex relationship between India and China. Reflecting the consequential and multifaceted nature of the bilateral relationship, it brings together thirty-five original contributions by a wide range of experts in the field. The chapters show that China–India relations are more far-reaching and complicated than ever and marked by both conflict and cooperation. Following a thorough introduction by the Editors, the handbook is divided into seven parts which combine thematic and chronological principles: Historical overviews Culture and strategic culture: constructing the other Core bilateral conflicts Military relations Economy and development Relations with third parties China, India, and global order This handbook will be an essential reference work for scholars interested in International Relations, Asian Politics, Global Politics, and China–India relations.

When the World Seemed New
When the World Seemed New

Author: Jeffrey A. Engel

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Published: 2017-11-07

Total Pages: 877

ISBN-13: 054493184X

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“Engel’s excellent history forms a standing—if unspoken—rebuke to the retrograde nationalism espoused by Donald J. Trump.”—The New York Times Book Review The collapse of the Soviet Union was the greatest shock to international affairs since World War II. In that perilous moment, Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait and regimes throughout Eastern Europe and Asia teetered between democratic change and new authoritarian rule. President Bush faced a world in turmoil that might easily have tipped into an epic crisis. As presidential historian Jeffrey Engel reveals in this page-turning history, Bush rose to the occasion brilliantly. Using handwritten letters and direct conversations—some revealed here for the first time—with heads of state throughout Asia and Europe, Bush knew when to push, when to cajole, and when to be patient. Based on previously classified documents, and interviews with all the principals, When the World Seemed New is a riveting, fly-on-the-wall account of a president with his calm hand on the tiller, guiding the nation from a moment of great peril to the pinnacle of global power. “An absorbing book.”—The Wall Street Journal “By far the most comprehensive—and compelling—account of these dramatic years thus far.”—The National Interest “A remarkable book about a remarkable person. Southern Methodist University professor Jeffrey Engel describes in engrossing detail the patient and sophisticated strategy President George H.W. Bush pursued as the Cold War came to an end.”—The Dallas Morning News

Grand Improvisation
Grand Improvisation

Author: Derek Leebaert

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Published: 2018-10-16

Total Pages: 625

ISBN-13: 0374250723

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A new understanding of the post World War II era, showing what occurred when the British Empire wouldn’t step aside for the rising American superpower—with global insights for today. An enduring myth of the twentieth century is that the United States rapidly became a superpower in the years after World War II, when the British Empire—the greatest in history—was too wounded to maintain a global presence. In fact, Derek Leebaert argues in Grand Improvisation, the idea that a traditionally insular United States suddenly transformed itself into the leader of the free world is illusory, as is the notion that the British colossus was compelled to retreat. The United States and the U.K. had a dozen abrasive years until Washington issued a “declaration of independence” from British influence. Only then did America explicitly assume leadership of the world order just taking shape. Leebaert’s character-driven narrative shows such figures as Churchill, Truman, Eisenhower, and Kennan in an entirely new light, while unveiling players of at least equal weight on pivotal events. Little unfolded as historians believe: the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan; the Korean War; America’s descent into Vietnam. Instead, we see nonstop U.S. improvisation until America finally lost all caution and embraced obligations worldwide, a burden we bear today. Understanding all of this properly is vital to understanding the rise and fall of superpowers, why we’re now skeptical of commitments overseas, how the Middle East plunged into disorder, why Europe is fracturing, what China intends—and the ongoing perils to the U.S. world role.

Red Line
Red Line

Author: P. J. Crowley

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2016-12-15

Total Pages: 361

ISBN-13: 1442255714

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Over the past quarter century, four consecutive American presidents—two Democrat, two Republican—have spent more time, diplomatic capital, and military resources on Iraq than any other country in the world. Much as the Vietnam syndrome cast a long shadow over American security policy in the decades after the end of the Vietnam War, Iraq provides the commanding narrative for this generation of American leaders. In this book, former Deputy Secretary of State P. J. Crowley, one of America’s most insightful national security commentators, unpacks the legacy of American triumphs and failures in Iraq . He argues that presidents have fallen victim to the Iraq Syndrome—the disconnect between politics, policy, strategy, and narrative—that has hampered America’s foreign policy in the Middle East and hotspots throughout the world. In order to maintain America’s global leadership role, Crowley argues that the next president must realign American’s national security politics, policies, strategies, and narrative for the long term.