America’s Great Game: The CIA’s Secret Arabists and the Shaping of the Modern Middle East, by Hugh Wilford.
Americans had ventured into the Arab world for many decades prior to the end of World War Two. Much of this time, the interaction was driven by private means: missionaries, universities, archeologists, charitable organizations. For those Americans exposed to this world, the overwhelming description that could be applied would be to label these as Arabists: understanding and appreciating both the Arab people and the Arab culture.
This was even true in the early years of official US government intervention in the region. In many ways, it couldn’t be otherwise: the early “official” Americans – for example, the cousins Kim and Archie Roosevelt – were introduced into this Arab world by the Americans who were already there, those already sympathetic to the Arab people: the missionaries, university presidents archeologists, and leaders of charitable organizations.
So what changed? This is to be explored next by Wilford.
The excuse began with communism. President Truman formally announced the beginning of the Cold War in March 1947, announcing that the United States would provide aid to those countries threatened by communism. With this came the Marshall plan, the establishment of a permanent civilian intelligence agency, and the National Security Act. But the story begins earlier.
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What about Palestine, Arabs, Jews and Zionists? Historically the US stayed out of this issue, leaving it to Britain and their 1922 League of Nations mandate. During this mandatory period: Jewish immigration, Arab revolts,…