Decoding the US and the Middle East — a tangle of alliances, history, and conflict

Indian Express

29-06-2025

'I have spent almost five hours going back and forth, back and forth on the phone with two of the most difficult people in the world — Bibi Netanyahu and Mahmoud Abbas…'
President Joe Biden's blunt outburst in 2024, as quoted in Bob Woodward's War, offers a raw glimpse into the immense challenges the United States faces in its dealings with the Middle East.
To much of the world, the US and Israel are long-standing allies many credit the US with helping push through the UN resolution that led to Israel's creation and are considered inseparable. Yet the US also maintains close ties with several Arab nations in the region, most notably Saudi Arabia and Qatar, countries that are hostile to Israel and refuse to recognize its existence.
The US has been involved in regime changes (notably Iraq and Libya), has supported and toppled dictators, vetoed UN resolutions critical of Israel, and yet at times provided defense assistance to Israel's opponents. In today's terms, the US-Middle East relationship can best be described as: 'It's complicated.'
Bob Woodward's War offers perhaps the most dramatic insight into the modern US-Middle East dynamic. Known for his intimate coverage of US presidents, Woodward focuses on America's involvement in both the Russia-Ukraine war and the Israel-Hamas conflict with particular emphasis on the strained relationship between Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
While Biden has consistently shown public support for Israel — including repeating now-disputed claims about Hamas atrocities — War reveals his deep private frustrations. For instance, Netanyahu reportedly assured Biden that Israel would halt airstrikes on Gaza and pursue targeted operations in response to the October 7 attacks. Despite the promise, bombings continued.
Woodward's detailed reporting paints Biden as a leader caught between unwavering support for Israel and growing tensions with Arab allies. His efforts to walk the diplomatic tightrope reflect the larger contradictions in US foreign policy toward the region. According to sources, Woodward is already working on a follow-up covering the brief US-Israel conflict with Iran and Donald Trump's rumored involvement.
To truly understand how this complex relationship came to be, Michael B. Oren's Power, Faith, and Fantasy: America in the Middle East from 1776 to the Present is a must-read. At over 850 pages, it's a hefty yet engaging exploration of the US-Middle East relationship from the nation's earliest days.
The book begins with a lesser-known but telling episode: the late-18th-century capture of US ships by Algerian pirates. With no navy of its own, the US had to negotiate, offering goods like tea, refined sugar, shawls, and even a frigate, along with cash. In a twist of fate, it was a Jewish businessman in Algiers who loaned the funds needed to secure the hostages' release.
Oren also details how early American views of the Middle East were shaped by myth and religion — from romantic notions of Arabian Nights to evangelical goals of returning Jews to the 'Promised Land.'
As the 20th century progressed, US policy grew increasingly contradictory from Wilson's refusal to intervene in Turkey post-WWI, to Truman's support for Israel's creation, to Eisenhower siding with Egypt during the Suez Crisis. Though the book concludes in 2006, it effectively captures the blend of idealism, strategic interest, and occasional naïveté that has long shaped American engagement with the region.
By the 1980s, the US presence in the Middle East became significantly more militarised. Andrew J Bacevich's America's War for the Greater Middle East: A Military History critically examines this transformation.
Bacevich, a Vietnam veteran, points out that between 1945 and 1980, American military casualties in the region were virtually nonexistent. Since 1990, however, the Middle East has been the primary site of American military losses.
The book begins with Operation Eagle Claw, the failed 1980 mission to rescue hostages in Iran, and moves through the 1983 Beirut barracks bombing, the Gulf Wars, and even the 1993 Black Hawk Down incident in Somalia.
Unapologetically critical, Bacevich argues that US military interventions were often poorly planned and driven by political motives rather than strategic necessity. America's War for the Greater Middle East is sharp, unsparing, and at just over 450 pages, surprisingly accessible given its depth.
Perhaps the most sweeping account of the modern Middle East and the West's role in it is Robert Fisk's The Great War for Civilisation: The Conquest of the Middle East.
Clocking in at over 1,000 pages, this epic may seem overwhelming, but Fisk's vivid narrative style keeps the pages turning. He opens with an interview with a 'shy,' soft-spoken man described as a construction engineer and agriculturist Osama bin Laden.
From the fall of Iran's Shah to the rise and fall of Saddam Hussein, from fleeting peace deals to devastating wars, Fisk presents a detailed, often chilling account of the region's transformation. One particularly grim scene involves a cleric eating ice cream while watching prisoners being executed.
What sets this book apart is its focus on the people shaping events — clerics, generals, kings, presidents. Despite ending in 2004, when both Saddam and bin Laden were still alive, The Great War for Civilisation remains perhaps the most definitive, human, and tragic account of the Middle East's modern history.
Each of these books, in its own way, pulls back the curtain on America's tangled, turbulent, and often contradictory involvement in the Middle East. From diplomatic missteps and military misadventures to deeply personal rivalries and historic turning points, the region continues to test and redefine US foreign policy.
If you're looking to better understand the headlines and the centuries of context behind them these books are an excellent place to start.