--- product_id: 23602144 title: "Power, Faith, and Fantasy: America in the Middle East: 1776 to the Present" price: "36810CFA" currency: XOF in_stock: true reviews_count: 13 url: https://www.desertcart.sn/products/23602144-power-faith-and-fantasy-america-in-the-middle-east-1776 store_origin: SN region: Senegal --- # 864 pages of deep dive history 68 black & white photos capturing eras 4 detailed maps for context Power, Faith, and Fantasy: America in the Middle East: 1776 to the Present **Price:** 36810CFA **Availability:** βœ… In Stock ## Summary > 🌍 Unlock the untold saga of America and the Middle East β€” history that shapes your world today. ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** Power, Faith, and Fantasy: America in the Middle East: 1776 to the Present - **How much does it cost?** 36810CFA with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.sn](https://www.desertcart.sn/products/23602144-power-faith-and-fantasy-america-in-the-middle-east-1776) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Key Features - β€’ **Insightful Analysis:** Unpacks pivotal moments shaping US-Middle East relations with clarity and depth. - β€’ **Visual Storytelling:** Includes 68 evocative photos and 4 maps to bring history to life. - β€’ **Rich Primary Sources:** Draws on government docs, personal letters, and memoirs for unmatched authenticity. - β€’ **Epic 230-Year Chronicle:** Explore America's complex journey in the Middle East from 1776 to today. - β€’ **Essential for Thought Leaders:** A must-read for professionals seeking nuanced understanding of geopolitics and history. ## Overview Power, Faith, and Fantasy by Michael B. Oren is an 864-page illustrated paperback that meticulously traces America's 230-year relationship with the Middle East. Combining extensive archival research with vivid storytelling, it covers key historical phases from the Barbary Wars through the founding of Israel to modern geopolitical challenges. Featuring 68 black-and-white photos and 4 maps, this critically acclaimed book offers a nuanced perspective essential for understanding the region's past and present. ## Description β€œWill shape our thinking about America and the Middle East for years.”―Christopher Dickey, Newsweek Power, Faith, and Fantasy tells the remarkable story of America's 230-year relationship with the Middle East. Drawing on a vast range of government documents, personal correspondence, and the memoirs of merchants, missionaries, and travelers, Michael B. Oren narrates the unknown story of how the United States has interacted with this vibrant and turbulent region. 68 black-and-white photographs, 4 maps Review: A stunning history of the US and the Middle East - Power, Faith and Fantasy is an excellent history of the interaction between the US and the Middle East since our nation's founding, resting on those three themes as the appropriate paradigms through which to interpret that interaction. The history can be roughly broken up into three phases. The first is the Barbary Wars where out Nation found it's strength (as well as it's Navy) and much of it's character in a drawn out, and often meandering, struggle against Muslim pirates. The second is a long period from the end of the Barbary Wars to World War I, which is characterized almost exclusively by the efforts of private missionaries travelling far and wide across the Middle East to bring the word of Christ, as well as more pedestrian tourism. The missionaries efforts at proselytizing were almost universally a failure, but they did leave behind a large number of relatively sophisticated schools and universities which were unknown in the Middle East at the time and later became the fountains of power for the Arab Nationalism movement. Both the missionaries and the tourists however generally returned home disappointed by the whole experience. The Middle East remained a place that promised so much but delivered so litte. The last, "modern," phase of the history stretches essentially from World War I to now. The watershed event of this period was the collapse of the Ottoman Empire which eliminated any sizable, coherent Muslim power in the world, a first since the Caliphate was founded over a thousand years ago. For me this period was the most relevant, although the previous two were certainly very interesting. At the end of World War I the victors proceeded to thoroughly "lose the peace" in the middle east, promising freedom -which so many there thirsted for after living under the generally unwanted yoke of the Turkish Ottomans- but delivering colonialism instead. This poured anti-western fuel onto the fires of both the reactionary / fundamentalist Islam being espoused by Wahabbi mosques and others, and the countervailing, secular nationalist movements at home in the schools founded by the American missionaries. Through a long series of events, -the introduction of Israel and muslim intolerance of it, continued western meddling such as the Anglo-French-Israeli Suez Crisis, the failure of Middle Eastern governments to adapt to the modern world, and the collapse of Arab nationalism which adopted the unworkable theory of socialism as their mantra- the Middle East never achieved any of the dreams that its various inhabitants saw as eerily within grasp following the end of WWI, be it freedom, Arab unity, or the re-emergence of an Islamic power reformed from the corrupt and backward Ottoman Empire. This has led to an inexorable slide into the Middle East we find today, a corrupt thugocracy whose people are unfortunately turning increasingly towards radical islam as their savoir and the outlet of their anger now that the alternate (and false) hope of Nationalist inspired Socialism evaporated into failure, and post colonial freedom has proven to be a chimerical mirage. While much of the Middle East's problems have been intensified by outside interference, more of them have been home grown. It is a place that for both internal and external reasons has never experienced real freedom. We now stand at an extremely pivotal moment in the history of not only the region and our nation but the world. After a long a bewildering history of interaction between America and the Middle East our relations have reached their zenith, with an American led liberation of Iraq that has brought the first chance of real freedom to the Middle East while at the same time teetering on the brink of occupation through mistakes and incompetence. The Middle East is now walking a deadly tightrope between radical Islam on the one side and American inspired freedom on the other. America walks a similar tightrope, between facing the bloody and expensive proposition of spreading of our ideals into the region -with the sobering realization that this won't necessarily bring peace or friendship towards us-, or falling back to a diplomatic preference for a farcical and self serving "stability" in the region which has marked our relations with the region from 1945 to 2003 -hopefully with the equally sobering realization that this has contributed immensely to the current woes of the region that spilled over onto our shores on 9/11. Michael B. Oren's book is an amazing and extensive tour of the history of the Middle East, how America has interacted with it, and how we have gotten to the situation outlined above. His writing style is fast and fluid, and while the middle half of the book gets bogged down a good deal, it is truly useful reading for anyone trying to understand what is going on in the Middle East today and trying to figure out what we should be doing in kind. Highly recommended. Review: A history of the founding of Israel and American headaches - Power, Faith, and Fantasy is a strong 4, weak 5 star book. Oren does an excellent job going over the history and bringing events together in a natural way, but Oren really centers his efforts on the founding of Israel and the frustrations of American presidents after that founding in balancing the, often contradictory, interests of oil, fighting the Commies, defense of Israel, and still promoting democracy and human rights in the region (usually in that order). What I found most interesting was the extent of American travels in the region and our general prestige in the area to a certain extent. The history of educational institutions founded by Americans and the relatively good natured religious missionary presence goes much longer back, essentially to the late 1700s, than I would have thought. The frequency of minor military excursions into the region I also found fascinating, and was a different aspect of seeing them all compiled in the same book as opposed to reading about them separately. Also interestingly, it is astonishing how quickly the animosity is shifted from the British/French/Imperialists is turned toward the US following the end of WWII and founding of Israel. This is common knowledge almost now, but actually remarkable given our 'footprint' in the region compared to hundred years ago (imagine, a US army occupying Egypt now). While US has certainly had its adventures in the region, they are nothing compared to the European incursions as late as 50 years ago (except Iraq, as it turns out). I did find the book to be frustrating on some topics though. For example, following the Holocaust there were floods of refugees trying to leave Germany. Oren discusses the challenges in finding homes for them all, but doesn't discuss why the US, considered a favored spot for many Jewish refugees (second only to Palestine), was still under immigration quotas and only allowed in a trickle of all displaced persons needing a new home. This is a big point, and one must wonder what would become of the Zionist movement, and the founding of Israel in particular, if the US were more willing to welcome Jewish displaced persons. Maps were oddly lacking for a book on the Middle East. There were only 2-3 in the first few pages as reference, and were quickly forgotten. For a region that sees considerable changes in territory and control, sometimes differing from year to year, it was frustrating to not be able to follow changes as closely as I would have liked. The book largely focuses around Israel, and the founding of it is really seen as a changing point and climax for the book, or at least the event where everything pivots. While not necessarily a bad thing, to title the book "America in the Middle East," and then focus so much on the Zionist movement and Israel, I had to change my expectations for the book. On buying the book, I was hoping to learn more about American involvement in Iraq, Saudi Arabia, etc. There was some of this in there, but it seemed to be of secondary importance to Israel. In the end, it really is a fantastic book, but left some minor questions that should have been explored by the author but for some reason weren't. But to say it covers all the Middle East is not entirely accurate. There is some discussion, and the last chapters go president by president in interactions with the Mid East, but not in depth (which, come to think of it, even the author admits in the opening chapter). ## Features - Author: Oren, Michael B.. - Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company - Pages: 864 - Publication Date: 2008 - Edition: Illustrated - Binding: Paperback - MSRP: 13.36 - ISBN13: 9780393330304 - ISBN: 0393330303 - Other ISBN: 9780393341522 - Other ISBN Binding: print - Language: en ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Best Sellers Rank | #754,965 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #166 in Middle Eastern Politics #199 in Middle Eastern History (Books) #274 in Middle East History | | Customer Reviews | 4.5 out of 5 stars 361 Reviews | ## Images ![Power, Faith, and Fantasy: America in the Middle East: 1776 to the Present - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71+nclIvijL.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ A stunning history of the US and the Middle East *by D***S on December 29, 2007* Power, Faith and Fantasy is an excellent history of the interaction between the US and the Middle East since our nation's founding, resting on those three themes as the appropriate paradigms through which to interpret that interaction. The history can be roughly broken up into three phases. The first is the Barbary Wars where out Nation found it's strength (as well as it's Navy) and much of it's character in a drawn out, and often meandering, struggle against Muslim pirates. The second is a long period from the end of the Barbary Wars to World War I, which is characterized almost exclusively by the efforts of private missionaries travelling far and wide across the Middle East to bring the word of Christ, as well as more pedestrian tourism. The missionaries efforts at proselytizing were almost universally a failure, but they did leave behind a large number of relatively sophisticated schools and universities which were unknown in the Middle East at the time and later became the fountains of power for the Arab Nationalism movement. Both the missionaries and the tourists however generally returned home disappointed by the whole experience. The Middle East remained a place that promised so much but delivered so litte. The last, "modern," phase of the history stretches essentially from World War I to now. The watershed event of this period was the collapse of the Ottoman Empire which eliminated any sizable, coherent Muslim power in the world, a first since the Caliphate was founded over a thousand years ago. For me this period was the most relevant, although the previous two were certainly very interesting. At the end of World War I the victors proceeded to thoroughly "lose the peace" in the middle east, promising freedom -which so many there thirsted for after living under the generally unwanted yoke of the Turkish Ottomans- but delivering colonialism instead. This poured anti-western fuel onto the fires of both the reactionary / fundamentalist Islam being espoused by Wahabbi mosques and others, and the countervailing, secular nationalist movements at home in the schools founded by the American missionaries. Through a long series of events, -the introduction of Israel and muslim intolerance of it, continued western meddling such as the Anglo-French-Israeli Suez Crisis, the failure of Middle Eastern governments to adapt to the modern world, and the collapse of Arab nationalism which adopted the unworkable theory of socialism as their mantra- the Middle East never achieved any of the dreams that its various inhabitants saw as eerily within grasp following the end of WWI, be it freedom, Arab unity, or the re-emergence of an Islamic power reformed from the corrupt and backward Ottoman Empire. This has led to an inexorable slide into the Middle East we find today, a corrupt thugocracy whose people are unfortunately turning increasingly towards radical islam as their savoir and the outlet of their anger now that the alternate (and false) hope of Nationalist inspired Socialism evaporated into failure, and post colonial freedom has proven to be a chimerical mirage. While much of the Middle East's problems have been intensified by outside interference, more of them have been home grown. It is a place that for both internal and external reasons has never experienced real freedom. We now stand at an extremely pivotal moment in the history of not only the region and our nation but the world. After a long a bewildering history of interaction between America and the Middle East our relations have reached their zenith, with an American led liberation of Iraq that has brought the first chance of real freedom to the Middle East while at the same time teetering on the brink of occupation through mistakes and incompetence. The Middle East is now walking a deadly tightrope between radical Islam on the one side and American inspired freedom on the other. America walks a similar tightrope, between facing the bloody and expensive proposition of spreading of our ideals into the region -with the sobering realization that this won't necessarily bring peace or friendship towards us-, or falling back to a diplomatic preference for a farcical and self serving "stability" in the region which has marked our relations with the region from 1945 to 2003 -hopefully with the equally sobering realization that this has contributed immensely to the current woes of the region that spilled over onto our shores on 9/11. Michael B. Oren's book is an amazing and extensive tour of the history of the Middle East, how America has interacted with it, and how we have gotten to the situation outlined above. His writing style is fast and fluid, and while the middle half of the book gets bogged down a good deal, it is truly useful reading for anyone trying to understand what is going on in the Middle East today and trying to figure out what we should be doing in kind. Highly recommended. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ A history of the founding of Israel and American headaches *by K***Y on December 5, 2013* Power, Faith, and Fantasy is a strong 4, weak 5 star book. Oren does an excellent job going over the history and bringing events together in a natural way, but Oren really centers his efforts on the founding of Israel and the frustrations of American presidents after that founding in balancing the, often contradictory, interests of oil, fighting the Commies, defense of Israel, and still promoting democracy and human rights in the region (usually in that order). What I found most interesting was the extent of American travels in the region and our general prestige in the area to a certain extent. The history of educational institutions founded by Americans and the relatively good natured religious missionary presence goes much longer back, essentially to the late 1700s, than I would have thought. The frequency of minor military excursions into the region I also found fascinating, and was a different aspect of seeing them all compiled in the same book as opposed to reading about them separately. Also interestingly, it is astonishing how quickly the animosity is shifted from the British/French/Imperialists is turned toward the US following the end of WWII and founding of Israel. This is common knowledge almost now, but actually remarkable given our 'footprint' in the region compared to hundred years ago (imagine, a US army occupying Egypt now). While US has certainly had its adventures in the region, they are nothing compared to the European incursions as late as 50 years ago (except Iraq, as it turns out). I did find the book to be frustrating on some topics though. For example, following the Holocaust there were floods of refugees trying to leave Germany. Oren discusses the challenges in finding homes for them all, but doesn't discuss why the US, considered a favored spot for many Jewish refugees (second only to Palestine), was still under immigration quotas and only allowed in a trickle of all displaced persons needing a new home. This is a big point, and one must wonder what would become of the Zionist movement, and the founding of Israel in particular, if the US were more willing to welcome Jewish displaced persons. Maps were oddly lacking for a book on the Middle East. There were only 2-3 in the first few pages as reference, and were quickly forgotten. For a region that sees considerable changes in territory and control, sometimes differing from year to year, it was frustrating to not be able to follow changes as closely as I would have liked. The book largely focuses around Israel, and the founding of it is really seen as a changing point and climax for the book, or at least the event where everything pivots. While not necessarily a bad thing, to title the book "America in the Middle East," and then focus so much on the Zionist movement and Israel, I had to change my expectations for the book. On buying the book, I was hoping to learn more about American involvement in Iraq, Saudi Arabia, etc. There was some of this in there, but it seemed to be of secondary importance to Israel. In the end, it really is a fantastic book, but left some minor questions that should have been explored by the author but for some reason weren't. But to say it covers all the Middle East is not entirely accurate. There is some discussion, and the last chapters go president by president in interactions with the Mid East, but not in depth (which, come to think of it, even the author admits in the opening chapter). ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Interesting and Informative *by J***R on November 11, 2007* For anyone interested in an overview of U.S. involvement in the Middle East that incorporates a great deal of insight into the personalities of those involved - this is your book. I personally enjoyed all of the details provided on the leaders and significant personalities throughout the Middle East - this gave me insight into the type of people and perspectives that U.S. leaders have had to deal with as they navigated the complex range of Middle East issues. A very interesting read - I found this book to be a page-turner and very informative at the same time. You come away with a great overview of our involvement in the Middle East both politically and militarily and gives a great perspective on the role that missionaries have played in our involvement in the Middle East. I came away with several areas that I now want to explore in greater detail that I probably would not have thought about without reading this book. --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - πŸ›’ **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** β€” Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** β€” Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - πŸ’° **No Hidden Fees** β€” All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - πŸ”„ **15-Day Free Returns** β€” Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - πŸ”’ **Secure Payments** β€” Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** β€” Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.sn/products/23602144-power-faith-and-fantasy-america-in-the-middle-east-1776](https://www.desertcart.sn/products/23602144-power-faith-and-fantasy-america-in-the-middle-east-1776) --- *Product available on Desertcart Senegal* *Store origin: SN* *Last updated: 2026-09-16*