Description: From the Gulf War to Gaza, a compelling critique of how and why Washington ensnared itself so destructively in the Middle East.
Review Quotes: "A furious critique of U.S. foreign policy in the region since the end of the Cold War ... well-documented." -- Foreign Affairs
"This remarkable, aching book holds up an appalling mirror to all among us who had a hand in, or passively watched, US policy. America's Middle East, Lynch says, was born of rage. His is of the good, healthy, necessary kind." -- Robert Malley, former Middle East advisor to Presidents Clinton, Obama and Biden, and co-author of Tomorrow is Yesterday: Life, Death, and the Pursuit of Peace in Israel/Palestine"An excellent, unflinchingly honest account of what every Arab knows: America's policies and dominance in the Middle East have provoked untold disasters, based on a deep-rooted culture of racism and colonialism. The world needs this book, now more than ever." -- Fida Jiryis, author of Stranger in My Own Land: Palestine, Israel and One Family's Story of Home"No one is better equipped than Lynch to tell this tragic story, written with passion, precision, honesty and courage. Essential reading on how American myopia, bias and hypocrisy have led to Gaza." -- David D. Kirkpatrick, New Yorker staff writer and former New York Times Middle East correspondent"A sobering read for anyone watching the carnage in Gaza and wondering, "How can the world do nothing?" Lynch offers an expert historical critique of US regional policy, enforced by Democrat and Republican Presidents alike, concluding that today's war "represents a fundamental breaking point in the American-led Middle East."" -- Deborah Amos, former Middle East correspondent, NPR; Ferris Professor of Journalism in Residence, Princeton University; and author of Lines in the Sand"Illuminating. For anyone interested in Middle East politics, Lynch offers the first detailed analysis of America's powerfully institutionalized regional order. An amazingly important and timely critique of US supremacy since the 1990s, and its culmination in Israel's genocide in Gaza." -- Dina Matar, Chair of the Centre for Global Media and Communications, SOAS University of London, and co-editor of Gaza as Metaphor"A timely critique of the structural and ideological goals shackling US policy in the Middle East, leaving today's ruins. Without absolving regional actors, Lynch recounts how successive presidents have fallen into institutionalized policy traps." -- Ellie Geranmayeh, Deputy Director of the Middle East & North Africa programme, European Council on Foreign Relations"[Lynch] is a fierce and compelling voice . . . unsparing in his critique." -- Justin Marozzi, The Spectator