Losing the Long Game, Philip H. Gordon
Losing the Long Game, Philip H. Gordon
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Losing the Long Game
The False Promise of Regime Change in the Middle East

Author: Philip H. Gordon

Narrator: Mark Deakins

Unabridged: 9 hr 45 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 10/06/2020


Synopsis

The definitive account of how regime change in the Middle East has proven so tempting to American policymakers for decades—despite never achieving the far-reaching aims of its proponents—and how it’s finally time to forge a new path forward.

Since the end of World War II, the United States has set out to oust governments in the Middle East on an average of once per decade—in places as diverse as Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan (twice), Egypt, Libya, and Syria. The reasons for these interventions have also been extremely diverse, and the methods by which the United States pursued regime change have also been highly varied, ranging from diplomatic pressure alone to outright military invasion and occuapation. What is common to all the operations, however, is that they failed to achieve their ultimate goals, produced a range of unintended and even catastrophic consequences, carried heavy financial and human costs, and in many cases left the countries in question worse off than they were before.

Losing the Long Game is a thorough and riveting look at the U.S. experience with regime change over the past seventy years, and an insider’s view on U.S. policymaking in the region at the highest levels. It is the story of repeated U.S. interventions in the region that always started out with high hopes and often the best of intentions, but never turned out well. No future discussion of U.S. policy in the Middle East will be complete without taking into account the lessons of the past, especially at a time of intense domestic polarization and reckoning with America's standing in world.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Carol on January 13, 2022

Excellent study of many of America's key foreign policy mistakes. Failed coup attempts, failed revolutions, friends and allies betrayed, enemies empowered. There's a coherent narrative and a clear thesis at the end. The problem is, there is no sense of urgency and nothing feels real. There are no st......more

Goodreads review by Joseph on October 06, 2020

Losing the Long Game: The False Promise of Regime Change in the Middle East by Philip H. Gordon is a St. Martin Press publication. Gordon is an American diplomat and foreign policy expert. From 2013 to 2015, Gordon served in the White House as Special Assistant to the President and White House Coord......more

Goodreads review by Dave S on September 04, 2021

As a foreigner living in the US, I was able to learn how and why US has systematically overestimated their hegemony in the Middle East. The author delves into the US’s efforts on regime change since WWII in Iran, Afghanistan, etc., and how it brought unintended, horrible consequences that would quag......more

Goodreads review by Liz on April 13, 2022

Whew. This was a rough one to finish. Honestly, this entire book could have been a short (<1,000 words) essay with one key takeaway: Regime change in the Middle East not only doesn't work, it generally makes things worse, no matter how well-intentioned the interveners are. I appreciate the author's d......more

Goodreads review by glassglow on October 30, 2020

Detailed and engaging history of Americans attempts at various flavors of regime change in the middle east. Each chapter goes over the motivations, execution of, and fallout from regime change operations in one country and covers Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan (twice), Egypt, Libya, and Syria. You do not ne......more