What Every American Should Know About the Middle East [Paperback]

Melissa Rossi (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 30, 2008 | Series: What Every American Should Know about

The What Every American Should Know series returns with a timely guide to the region Americans need to understand the most (and know the least)

The latest edition of Melissa Rossi?s popular What Every American Should Know series gives a crash course on one of the most complex and important regions of the world. In this comprehensive and engaging reference book, Rossi offers a clear analysis of the issues playing out in the Middle East, delving into each country?s history, politics, economy, and religions. Having traveled through the area over the past year, she exposes firsthand the U.S.?s geopolitical moves and how our presence has affected the region?s economic and political development. Topics include:

· Why Iran is viewed as a threat by most Middle East countries
· What resource is more important than petroleum in regional power plays
· What?s really behind the fighting between Sunni and Shia
· How Saudi Arabia inadvertently feeds the violence in Iraq and beyond
· How monarchies like those in Jordan and Qatar are more open and progressive than the so-called republics
With answers that will surprise many Americans, and covering a vast history and cultural complexity that will fascinate any student of the world, What Every American Should Know About the Middle East is a must-read introduction to the most critical region of the twenty-first century.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Part primer with historical overviews and bios on key players and part tabloid-style digest, Rossi's series entry nonetheless manages to remain entirely informative throughout. Setting itself apart by addressing preconceived notions, the book is divided into chapters on specific countries in the Middle East, emphasizing their uniqueness in matters of energy, military, religion/ethnicity, money, politics, unity, and theocracy. Statistics are provided on the war, including civilian and militia deaths, refugees, and moneys spent on Iraq and unaccounted for. Rossi's previous titles in her WEASK series (whateveryamericanshouldknow.com) hint at the tone of this book, e.g., What Every American Should Know About Who's Really Running the World: The People, Corporations, and Organizations That Control Our Future. Her boldly outspoken style might not appeal equally to everyone; one chapter is titled "European Designs: Hacking up the Middle East." However, her cheat sheets help clarify, her vocabulary is defined, and there are extensive footnotes. Overall, this is recommended for public and undergraduate libraries.—Krista Bush, Univ. of New Haven Lib., West Haven, CT
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author

Melissa Rossi is an award-winning veteran journalist who has penned articles for Newsweek, Newsday, Esquire, George, MSNBC, The New York Observer, and, until recently, wrote a regular column for National Geographic Traveler. She has written extensively about Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, and has lived abroad for many years.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Paperback: 512 pages
• Publisher: Plume (December 30, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0452289599
• ISBN-13: 978-0452289598
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #468,829 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The ABCs of the Middle East, January 14, 2009

By 

creviews "creviews" - See all my reviews

This review is from: What Every American Should Know About the Middle East (Paperback)

I've struggled to find a basically non-biased book on Middle East history that is written in a casual style. Reading this book is like having a conversation with a friend. Overall, I found this book is a big help in understanding our current day politics. This book should not be your only source of information, but it is a nice place to start.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Adequate exposition into ME affairs, but not as objective as it should be., January 9, 2010

By 

Jason Warren "NUSurvivor" (Austin TX) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: What Every American Should Know About the Middle East (Paperback)

Rossi's exposition into the Middle East is hardly expository in nature- while her discussions are thorough and she does a remarkable job of covering both a crash course in the politics of every Middle Eastern state (Oman and Jordan were particularly fun reads, and I learned a lot about 'hypothetical development projects' in Dubai that recently made major headlines) and a thematic overview of major tensions in the region. Sadly, a lot of her analysis comes down to the same basic points:

1) America is dominated by a neo-conservative conspiracy that is both blood and jew thirsty- rightly so, Rossi blames a lot of the region's problems on a Western foreign policy hellbent on pursuing stable access to energy resources and/or fulfilling a Zionist Christian belief that populating the Middle East with Jewish citizens will lead to the second coming of the messiah. The point is well articulated early in the text, but gets redundant as she KEEPS REFERRING TO IT IN ALMOST EVERY CHAPTER, and in some cases, reexplains the foundations of her argument in the same terms.

2) Religious divides are problematic, though no one really knows why- Rossi does an excellent job deciphering the various sects of Islam (I learned what makes a Sunni different than a Shia, for example, and it has a lot to do with the line of ascensions for Muslim prophets in the 600s). What she doesn't explain is how these religious tensions manifest into new conflicts and why anyone continues to care about these tensions today. Rossi also blames a lot of problems in the region on the 1979 Iranian revolution, but needs to do a better job specifically linking the revolution's unique manifestations in each country. One of the ironic weaknesses of the text is that because Rossi blames problems in many countries on similar factors and describes them in similar language, the countries quickly blend together. She should be doing a stronger job emphasizing what makes the nations distinct so that the region doesn't look like one big quagmire.

3) Everybody hates Israel- easily half of the book covers Middle Eastern history and politics based on a lens that assumes the only thing the country has to do with its time is worry about when Israel will invade, why Israel is expanding settlements in the West Bank, why Israel is the only nation in the region with a nuclear weapon, etc... While I appreciate the book is written for an American audience, I think we already understand this point.

It's a good read and if you need to brush up on (or learn for the first time) the politics of the region, I say go for it! If you're looking for something more comprehensive, go elsewhere.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Very good information, but with extreme anti-Israel, anti-U.S. bias, April 6, 2011

By 

Brad (Monroeville, PA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: What Every American Should Know About the Middle East (Paperback)

The information provided in this book is very good, and explains a lot about the middle east in a user-friendly way. However, the bias against the U.S. and Israel is not very friendly. And even borders on hatred. Makes me question what the author was paid to portray rogue entities with sub-par moral beliefs in such a good light. Seems like the author has a respectable background in journalism, working for high-name companies, but come on. Suffice to say, I give 3 stars based on the in-depth information content and user-friendly layout of the book.