About Me

My photo
I have a burning need to know stuff and I love asking awkward questions.

Thursday, October 19, 2017


Just Finished Reading: Blowback – How the West f*cked up the Middle East (and why it was a bad idea) by Michael Luders (FP: 2017)

This is an example of one of those rare books that I buy and read within weeks of purchase. The rather unusual title helped along with the fact that it was a slim 151 pages. Being so thin the author had little time to waste building arguments and honestly went at it with a rather breathless gusto. In fact there’s so much going on here, and so much to follow up on, that I’m going to need to revisit the region on multiple occasions to ‘catch up’ with the authors obvious deep understanding of the history of the Wests involvement in such a volatile region.

The question of what made the Middle East so volatile is easily answered (although I think the subtitle kind of gives that away). Yes, it was us – particularly Britain (with the French as associated co-conspirators) and, naturally, the US who, the author maintains, started the ball rolling in 1953 when they deposed the democratically elected Prime Minister of Iran – Mohammed Mossadegh – and installed the Shah in his place (the irony that the Shah had been previously overlooked by the Americans because of associations with the Nazi’s in WW2 was not lost on me) supposedly to stop the country falling into the Soviet sphere. The rest, as they say, is a long and bloody history. Oh, and of course, that blowback is an unforgiving bitch. The whole stability of the region wasn’t really helped by the creation of Israel (that would be our fault) and the continued ‘get out of sanctions free’ card every time they shell the Gaza strip or attack any of their other neighbours in ‘self-defence’. If that didn’t make things bad enough we have the great western ally Saudi Arabia promoting hard-line Islam and with its wealthy citizens directly funding fundamentalists throughout the world – again ironically protected by a country that spends a great deal of time, effort and money tracking down and killing those same Islamic groups that regularly hit the global headlines.

It is, not to put too fine a point on it, a complete mess and somewhere the West finds difficult to leave alone. A good part of that is, of course, oil as it has been since before Britain and France created and then partitioned Iraq as part of their empire projects. The other part is, as we all know, the problem of Israel that, seemingly, cannot even be talked about without someone somewhere playing the ‘off-side’ Jewish card. Until that happens settlements will continue to be built, Palestinians will continue to be oppressed and killed with impunity and tensions will simmer and occasionally boil over and the whole region will remain dangerously unstable.

Luders certainly isn’t brave enough to propose a magic bullet to solve the areas problems but he, rightly, says that we need to look at the area from all sides and not just from, or not just prioritising, the Jewish side. Gaza is an open wound that needs to be healed (or at the very least its obvious haemorrhaging needs to be reduced to more humane levels) and Israel needs to agree its borders like every other country in the world. The problem of Saudi Arabia needs to be looked at too – and, again, not just given a ‘free pass’ as the friend of the West in the region. Finally, when we’ve started to clean up the mess we’ve made we need to walk away and stop meddling in the internal affairs of other countries. We cannot be seen as icons of democracy whilst deposing democratic governments that don’t happen to support us and replacing them with brutal dictators who do. This is most definitely not a book for the faint hearted. There’s some horrible and shocking stuff in here and the author pulls few punches as he directs his criticism at those responsible for fucking up the Middle East. Most of my knowledge of the region has so far been from the news over the last 40+ years. I think it’s about time I learnt a great deal more of what’s really going on out there. This was a pretty good start and there will be far more to follow. Highly recommended but be warned it could give you some sleepless nights…. 

8 comments:

Mudpuddle said...

what a tangled web we weave... actually, the problem began in the tenth c. with the first crusade... imho...

CyberKitten said...

@ Mudpuddle: Yes, the Crusades certainly had their part to play. I'd date the problem to WW1 where we (the Brits) promised the Arabs so much and then just left them hanging. I'll be reading more about this next year. I have Russia and China to read about first (not to mention India, Spain, Ireland and Afghanistan to follow up on).

Mudpuddle said...

CK: T.E. Laurence certainly thought so... recommend 7 pillars of wisdom if you get a moment...

CyberKitten said...

@ Mudpuddle: I really enjoyed 'Lawrence of Arabia' and have at least one biography of him plus 7 Pillars of Wisdom in my 'TBR' pile(s). I'll certainly get around to him sooner rather than later.

RTD said...

Hebrew scriptures suggest the problems began in the times of Abraham, Moses, et al. Even secular cynics will have to admit that every now and then the Torah got it right: invaders v. natives (whatever their motives) = problems.

Brian Joseph said...

It is hard to justify many actions of Western governments since World War I in the Middle Eastern Region. With that, like all parts of the world the region has a complex history, culture and set of problems. Had the West not interfered I think that many of those problems world still exist. It is impossible to tell for sure what the situation would be like however. Of course, had so many wrongs not been committed, there would not be anything to wonder about.

I also recommend The Seven Pillars of Wisdom.

Stephen said...

Does this book say anything about Iran?

Personally, I don't think the crusades had a thing to do with it. The Arabs invaded Spain and France, they did it first, and you don't see us crying about it. I mention this from time to time because people drag the crusades out like it's the medieval version of the Iraq war, or pile on some anti-imperialist guilt on it it. Spain, France, Constantinople? No memory of their being attacked whatsoever. No appreciation for the fact that the Crusades were largely triggered by the Turks denying free transit into old Judea, and that after that it was a self-perpetuating fascination with the land and wealth after the first crusader states had been taken.

I think the Mideast problem is that the Ottoman empire rotted and fell apart, and since then they've been stuck trying to figure out what to do -- coping with modernity-- and blaming their problems on the west via religious ideology. Of course, western governments have exacerbated the problems through CONSTANT meddling, either for oil or good intentions, as this book seems to argue for.

CyberKitten said...

@ RT: Although I am aware that the OT has been used to justify some of Israels actions in the region I consider that to be completely illegitimate. As to the Torah 'getting it right' as a 'secular cynic' I'd had to say that even a stopped clock is right twice a day.

@ Brian: It is indeed a complex region with many competing demands and cultures. But I'm not sure if it's all that more complex than any other comparable region. I don't think that there's anything inherently unstable about it. I think (from what little deep knowledge I've acquired so far) that the region would be better off, and possibly much better off, if the West had not interfered so much. But, of course, we'd never actually know that until we can visit alternate worlds!

@ Stephen: There is much about Iran here. From the imposition of the Shah, the Iran-Iraq War, the Revolution and it's present support for organisations throughout the region and beyond. The focus on Israel and Gazza are very much at the end. There is also much on the situation in Syria and, naturally, the rise of things like ISIS and the problem of the Kurds. It's definitely a region that I need to read more about.

I know a little about the Arabs/Moors in Spain but that 'knowledge' comes mostly from general histories, the movie 'El Cid' and bits I've picked up along the way. It's a blank in my European knowledge that needs filling in!

The collapse of the Ottoman Empire - helped along by several European powers - certainly caused (and is continuing to cause) many problems in the region. But this seems to be the way of things after Empires collapse. It must be what the so-called Dark Ages must have been like after Rome fell.