America's Great Game: The CIA's Secret Arabists and the Shaping of the Modern Middle East Author: Hugh Wilford | Language: English | ISBN:
B00FIP16EG | Format: EPUB
America's Great Game: The CIA's Secret Arabists and the Shaping of the Modern Middle East Description
The Central Intelligence Agency’s reputation in the Middle East today has been marred by waterboarding and drone strikes, yet in its earliest years the agency was actually the region’s staunchest western ally. In America's Great Game, celebrated intelligence historian Hugh Wilford reveals how three colorful CIA operatives—Kermit and Archie Roosevelt, and maverick covert-ops expert Miles Copeland—attempted, futilely, to bring the U.S. and Middle East into harmony during the 1940s and ‘50s. Heirs to an American missionary tradition that taught them to treat Arabs and Muslims with respect and empathy, these CIA “Arabists” nevertheless behaved like political puppet-masters, orchestrating coup plots throughout the Middle East while seeking to sway public opinion in America against support for the new state of Israel. Their efforts, and ultimate failure, would doom U.S.-Middle Eastern relations for decades to come.
Drawing on extensive new material, including declassified government records, private papers, and personal interviews, America's Great Game shows how three well-intentioned spies inadvertently ruptured relations between America and the Arab world.
- File Size: 2839 KB
- Print Length: 385 pages
- Page Numbers Source ISBN: 046501965X
- Publisher: Basic Books (December 3, 2013)
- Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
- Language: English
- ASIN: B00FIP16EG
- Text-to-Speech: Enabled
X-Ray:
- Lending: Not Enabled
- Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #62,755 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
- #39
in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Nonfiction > Politics & Social Sciences > Politics & Government > Specific Topics > Intelligence & Espionage - #52
in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Nonfiction > Politics & Social Sciences > Politics & Government > International & World Politics > Relations - #67
in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Nonfiction > Politics & Social Sciences > Politics & Government > Political Science > History & Theory
- #39
in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Nonfiction > Politics & Social Sciences > Politics & Government > Specific Topics > Intelligence & Espionage - #52
in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Nonfiction > Politics & Social Sciences > Politics & Government > International & World Politics > Relations - #67
in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Nonfiction > Politics & Social Sciences > Politics & Government > Political Science > History & Theory
"America's Great Game" written by Hugh Wilford is book of an unusual theme that speaks about a little known history of the CIA's pro-Arab operations happened in the 40s and 50s of last century.
Wilford conducted an exhaustive research of historical documents that were meantime declassified by government but also used many private collections and made numerous interviews to learn about influential CIA agents which significantly influenced American foreign policy towards the Arab countries and Israel, and with their activities repeatedly directed not only American activities in region, but also the global policy towards these countries.
The author tells his story through the lives of CIA's three most influential American Arabs who performed a variety of tasks related to Middle East countries.
The first one was Kermit "Kim" Roosevelt who was the grandson of Theodore Roosevelt and lead CIA covert actions in the region, while his cousin Archie Roosevelt was leading the Beirut station. The third member of presented trio is Miles Copeland, who was covert operations specialist that entered the CIA service during the 40s.
They three, led by Kim, advocated moderate path to Arab countries in same time supporting Israel, but not giving them level of support that this country surrounded by the Arab world wanted and expected.
The reader will learn about numerous conflicts that have been led these years inside the CIA in terms of such moderate policy, in the world that during those years began to fully share in the two blocks, almost without allowing nonalignment to one of the sides.
The author also well described the background of the Iranian regime overthrow and the Shah inauguration as the leader of the Iranian government.
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