Customer Reviews

The Unmaking of the Middle East: A History of Western Disorder in Arab Lands

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a well researched review of Western foreign policy in the Middle East from a perspective that does not receive much exposure in the Western media. Mr. Salt's analysis, however, is at times overly cynical concerning Western intentions in the region, as it often paints policy mistakes and misperceptions as the result of crass malevolence and greed, rather than an often misguided struggle to protect vital interests abroad. Still, this book is well worth the time and effort if one wants to form a dynamic understanding of the region. Just take it with a grain of salt.

Salt sets out in his book to examine the role of the West in making the Middle East the way that it is today. Of course, hundreds of volumes have been written about this subject, and any reader entering into this book should not expect a comprehensive history. This book does not offer the full narrative but instead focuses on a few key issues, namely, the breakup of the Ottoman Empire after WWI, the birth of Israel, and Western Policy toward Iraq. Salt's strength is the depth with which he probes these stories, if not the scope of the stories themselves.

Salt's research is heavily footnoted. He utilizes many primary sources, although to be fair, some of them are memoires, which makes them less reliable than others. (For example, he quotes many policymakers through the memoirs of their assistants that were written years after the fact.) It is obvious that Salt is a scholar who has done his homework.

With regards to the bias of the book, the reader will be aware of it from the first few pages. Salt is clearly making a point about the negative influence of the West. Therefore, most of the book contains anecdotes that vilify Western policymakers and vindicate Arab and even more so Turkish policymakers. (Salt lives and writes in Turkey.) Is the book anti-Western and anti-Israeli? It certainly shows the dark splotches those nations have left on history. But at the same time, if the anecdotes he tells are true, they are extremely significant and should give us westerners pause. The book does not present a balanced view of both sides, but in my opinion, if the reader is willing to read this book and then follow it up with another from the opposing viewpoint, he or she will gain a much better understanding of the region.

One of the best books I have read on the West's role in the Middle East.