{"product_id":"9780735224247","title":"Grand Delusion: The Rise and Fall of American Ambition in the Middle East","description":"\u003ctable\u003e\u003ctbody\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAuthor\/Contributor(s):\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"\"\u003eSimon, Steven\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003ePenguin Press\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDate:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e4\/11\/2023\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBinding:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"\"\u003eHardcover\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCondition:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"\"\u003eNEW\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003c\/tbody\u003e\u003c\/table\u003e\u003cb\u003e“A comprehensive, even magisterial review . . . This is strong stuff, but Simon does not flinch.” \u003ci\u003e—Foreign Affairs\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA longtime American foreign policy insider’s penetrating and definitive reckoning with this country’s involvement in the Middle East\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe culmination of almost forty years at the highest levels of policymaking and scholarship, \u003ci\u003eGrand Delusion\u003c\/i\u003e is Steven Simon’s tour de force, offering a comprehensive and deeply informed account of U.S. engagement in the Middle East. Simon begins with the Reagan administration, when American perception of the region shifted from a cluster of faraway and frequently skirmishing nations to a shining, urgent opportunity for America to (in Reagan’s words) “serve the cause of world peace and the future of mankind.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eReagan fired the starting gun on decades of deepening American involvement, but as the global economy grew, bringing an increasing reliance on oil, U.S. diplomatic and military energies were ever more fatefully absorbed by the Middle East. \u003ci\u003eGrand Delusion\u003c\/i\u003e explores the motivations, strategies, and shortcomings of each presidential administration from Reagan to today, exposing a web of intertwined events—from the history of the Israel-Palestine conflict amid Israeli domestic politics, Cold War rivalries, and Saudi Arabia’s quest for security, to 9\/11 and the war on terror—managed by a Washington policy process frequently ruled by wishful thinking and partisan politics.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSimon’s sharp sense of irony and incisive writing brings complex history to life. He illuminates the motives behind America's commitment to Israel; explodes the popular narrative of Desert Storm as a “good war”; and calls out the devastating consequences of our mistakes, particularly for people of the region trapped by the onslaught of American military action and pitiless economic sanctions.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eGrand Delusion\u003c\/i\u003e reveals that this story, while episodically impressive, has too often been tragic and at times dishonorable. As we enter a new era in foreign policy, this is an essential book, a cautionary history that illuminates American's propensity for self-deception and misadventure at a moment when the nation is redefining its engagement with a world in crisis.","brand":"Penguin Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43380626325759,"sku":"9780735224247","price":32.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0452\/0886\/2873\/files\/9780735224247_s600x595.jpg?v=1775599175","url":"https:\/\/massivebookshop.com\/products\/9780735224247","provider":"MASSIVE BOOKSHOP","version":"1.0","type":"link"}