Power Faith And Fantasy

Oren’s book Power, Faith, and Fantasy: America in the Middle East 1776 to the Present goes in to great detail in the United States involvement in the Middle East that dates back to the American Revolution. In this book the author discusses the people involved and the events that have taken place that help the reader understand America’s influence in the region. The author has intertwined three major themes: power, faith, and fantasy, that sum up the United States interest in the region with each theme often showing up at various times and places throughout history. Power represents economic, military, and political influence; ranging from the Barbary pirates one of the United States first encounters with the Middle East to the more recent war raged against Iraq’s Saddam Hussein’s Ba’ath Regime. Faith signifying Christianity, during the 19th century America had a religious impulse to the Middle East. The original goal being to send missionaries over to convert Muslims over to Christians. Failing to convert people over, missionary work eventually converted to educational programs, schools, and institutions. This kind of work in the region had a significant impact and helped the modernization of many institutions that were not prevalent before. These missions slowly introduced the American way and egalitarian ideals. After World War I the United States recognized the Middle East as a region that fell victim to European colonialism and would profit from Americas
In order to understand a region, you must first understand their past. The problems the United States is having now with the Middle East is not all that different from the issues the United States was having originally with the region. Oren begins to support his thesis by giving examples to Barbary Wars and Operation Torch and the presidential efforts from Roosevelt and Wilson to help ease tensions between the Palestinians and the