Losing the Long Game: The False Promise of Regime Change in the Middle East

Gordon (France, Germany, and the Western Alliance), a former assistant secretary of state in the Obama administration, delivers a well-informed overview of America’s recent interventions in the Middle East. Noting that the U.S. has attempted Middle East regime change about once a decade since the end of WWII, Gordon reveals that even apparent successes, such as the overthrow of Iranian prime minister Mohammad Mosaddeq (a “fierce nationalist” overhyped by the Eisenhower administration as a communist threat, according to Gordon) in 1953 and the arming of Afghan rebels to drive out the Soviet Army in the 1980s, have backfired. He also describes Obama’s options during the Arab Spring as limited or simply bad, and argues that proposals to launch air strikes against the Assad regime in Syria were “another case of advocates of regime change putting their faith more in hope than logic or experience.” He blames President Trump’s failures in Syria on disinterest, bad choices, and a fear of antagonizing a resurgent Russia. Each case study is well documented and straightforward, though there are notable gaps, including infrequent mentions of Israel, despite the significance of the U.S.-Israeli relationship to American policy in the Middle East. Still, this is a decent primer on a complex and significant aspect of world affairs. (Oct.)