T R O U B LE The White House and the Middle East— from the Cold War to the War on Terror P A T R I CK T Y L ER $30.00 THE MIDDLE EAST is the beginning and the end of U.S. foreign policy: events there influence our alliances, make or break presiden­ cies, govern the price of oil, and draw us into war. In this gripping story of American mis­ adventures in the region, Patrick Tyler shows that the history of American presidents' deal­ ings there is one of mixed motives, skulduggery, deceit, and outright foolishness, in addition to policy making and diplomacy. Tyler draws on newly opened presidential archives to dramatize the approach to the Mid­ dle East in U.S. presidencies from Eisenhower's to George W. Bush's. He takes us into the Oval Office and shows how our leaders made momen­ tous decisions; at the same time, the sweep of his narrative—from the Suez crisis to the Iran hostage debacle to George W. Bush's catastro­ phe in Iraq—lets us see the big picture as never before. Tyler tells a story of presidents being drawn into Middle East affairs against their will, being kept in the dark by local potentates, being led astray by grasping subordinates, and making decisions about the internal affairs of countries they hardly understand. Most tell­ ingly, he shows how each president has managed to undo the policies of his predecessor, often fomenting both anger against America in the streets of the region and confusion at home. A World of Trouble is the Middle East book we need now: compulsively readable, free of cant and ideology, and rich in insight about the very human challenges a new president will face as he tries to restore America's standing in the region. PATRICK TYLER has reported extensively from both the Middle East and Washington for The New York Times and The Washington Post. A Texan, he lives in Washington, D.C. Jacket design by Susan Mitchell Front jacket photograph: President Nixon and Egyptian president Anwar Sadat © Associated Press Spine photographs: President Ronald Reagan and Prince Fahd of Saudi Arabia © AFP/Newscom; President Jimmy Carter, Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin, and Egyptian president Anwar Sadat © Associated Press; President Clinton, Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak, and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat © Associated Press; President Bush and Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon © Christy Bowe/IPOL/Globe Photos Author photograph by Susan Biddle FARRAR. STRAUS AND GIROUX www.fsgbooks.com "In taking us inside the White House through decades of tumult in the Middle East, Patrick Tyler brilliantly sheds light on both the history of the presidency and the long tragic story of the place so many Americans think of as the Holy Land. This is a terrific, important book." —JON MEACHAM, editor of Newsweek and author of American Gospel: God, the Founding Fathers, and the Making of a Nation Praise for A GREAT WALL: SIX PRESIDENTS AND CHINA "An absorbing account of how ambitious men in every administration battled and undermined each other over China." —ROBERT D. KAPLAN, The New York Times Book Review Combining the skills of an investigative reporter with a novelist's mastery of drama, Tyler has produced a suspense-filled account." —LUCIAN W. PYE, Foreign Affairs CURRENT AFFAIRS ISBN-13: 978-0-374-29289-8 ISBN-10: 0-374-29289-2 5 3 0 0 0 '8037411 292898 ALSO BY PATRICK TYLER A Great Wall: Six Presidents and China: An Investigative History Running Critical: The Silent War, Rickover, and General Dynamics A WORLD OF TROUBLE The White House and the Middle East—-from the Cold War to the War on Terror P A T R I CK T Y L ER F A R R AR S T R A US G I R O UX • N EW Y O RK Farrar, Straus and Giroux 18 West 18th Street, New York 10011 Copyright © 2009 by Patrick Tyler All rights reserved Distributed in Canada by Douglas & Mclntyre Ltd. Printed in the United States of America First edition, 2009 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Tyler, Patrick. A world of trouble : the White House and the Middle East—from the Cold War to the War on Terror / Patrick Tyler.— 1 st ed. p. cm. Includes index. ISBN-13: 978-0-374-29289-8 (hardcover : alk paper) ISBN-10. 0-374-29289-2 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Middle East—Foreign relations—United States. 2. United States— Foreign relations—Middle East. 3. Middle East—Politics and government— 20th century. 4. United States—Politics and government—20th century. 5. Middle East—Politics and government—21st century. 6. United States— Politics and government—21st century. I. Title. DS63.2.U5 T95 2008 327.7305609'045—dc22 2008041261 Designed by Debbie Glasserman www.fsgbooks.com 1 3 5 79 10 8 6 42