Power, Faith, and Fantasy: America in the Middle East, 1776 to the Present
by By Oren, Michael B.
Category: Political Science , International Relations , General

Beset by privateers and bereft of protection by the British navy, the newly founded USA had a pressing interest in diplomacy with Algeria and other havens for pirates. Slightly later the new nation, its self-confidence greatly grown, provided a steady stream of Orientalists and missionaries seeking documents, relics, and souls to save. Oren (history, Shalem Center) points out that American involvement in the Middle East started at the moment there was an America. He details the various people who sought to explore the Middle East, exploit it, explain it to the folks back home, make it into America's image, and save it from itself. He explains the rampant fantasies about the Holy Land, the piety mixed freely with imperialism, the movements founded in America that helped to shape the destiny of Israel, and the fact that oil is a relatively new element. Annotation ©2007 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)