America's Great Game: The CIA?s Secret Arabists and the Shaping of the Modern Middle East

图书标准信息

• 作者 Hugh Wilford 著
• 出版社 Basic Books
• 出版时间 2013-12
• 版次 1
• ISBN 9780465019656
• 定价 252.10元
• 装帧 平装
• 开本 其他
• 纸张 其他
• 正文语种 英语

【内容简介】

Fromthe9/11attackstowaterboardingtodronestrikes,relationsbetweentheUnitedStatesandtheMiddleEastseemcaughtinadownwardspiral.Andalltoooften,theCentralIntelligenceAgencyhasmadethesituationworse.Butthiscrisiswasnotahistoricalinevitability——farfromit.Indeed,theearliestgenerationofCIAoperativeswasactuallytheregion'sstaunchestwesternally.InAmerica'sGreatGame,celebratedintelligencehistorianHughWilfordrevealsthesurprisinghistoryoftheCIA'spro-Araboperationsinthe1940sand50sbytracingtheworkoftheagency'sthreemostinfluential——andcolorful——officersintheMiddleEast.Kermit"Kim"RooseveltwasthegrandsonofTheodoreRooseveltandthefirstheadofCIAcovertactionintheregion;hiscousin,ArchieRoosevelt,wasaMiddleEastscholarandchiefoftheBeirutstation.ThetwoRooseveltsjoinedcombinedforceswithMilesCopeland,amaverickcovertoperationsspecialistwhohadjoinedtheAmericanintelligenceestablishmentduringWorldWarII.WiththeirdeepknowledgeofMiddleEasternaffairs,thethreemenwereheirstoanAmericanmissionarytraditionthatengagedArabsandMuslimswithrespectandempathy.Yettheywerealsofascinatedbyimperialintrigue,andwereeagertoplayamodernrematchofthe"GreatGame,"thenineteenth-centurystrugglebetweenBritainandRussiaforcontrolovercentralAsia.Despitetheirgoodintentions,these"Arabists"proppedupauthoritarianregimes,attemptedsecretlytoswaypublicopinioninAmericaagainstsupportforthenewstateofIsrael,andstagedcoupsthatirrevocablydestabilizedthenationswithwhichtheyempathized.Theirefforts,andultimatefailure,wouldshapethecourseofU.S.——MiddleEasternrelationsfordecadestocome.Basedonavastarrayofdeclassifiedgovernmentrecords,privatepapers,andpersonalinterviews,America'sGreatGametellstherivetingstoryofthemerrybandofCIAofficerswhosespygamesforeverchangedU.S.foreignpolicy.

【作者简介】

HughWilfordisaprofessorofhistoryatCaliforniaStateUniversity,LongBeach,andauthoroffourbooks,includingTheMightyWurlitzer:HowtheCIAPlayedAmerica.HelivesinLongBeach,California.