The U.S. and the Middle East: How did we get from there to here?

Websites and documents:

U.S. intervention in Iran, 1951-1953, a case study

Mohammad Mosaddeq and the 1953 Iran Coup - some recently declassified documents

The Secret CIA history of the 1953 Iran coup

U.S. Propaganda Activities in the Middle East Documents from the early Cold War

The October War and U.S. Policy
Kissinger gave green light for Israeli offensive violating 1973 cease-fire

Shaking Hands With Saddam Hussein: The Tilt Towards Iraq - 1980-1984 U.S. DOCUMENTS SHOW EMBRACE OF SADDAM HUSSEIN IN EARLY 1980s DESPITE CHEMICAL WEAPONS, EXTERNAL AGGRESSION, HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES

The Saddam Hussein Sourcebook Declassified Secrets from the U.S.-Iraq Relationship

20 Years after the Hostages
Declassified documents on Iran and the United States

The September 11th Sourcebooks: Lessons from the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan and U.S. support for the Mujahedeen

Readings:

Oil:

Robert Vitalis, "Black Gold, White Crude: An Essay on American Exceptionalism, Hierarchy, and Hegemony in the Gulf," Diplomatic History, 26, 2 (Spring 2002), pp. 185-213.

Douglas Little, "Opening the Door: Business, Diplomacy, and American's Stake in the Middle East," in American Orientalism. The United States and the Middle East Since 1945 (Chapel Hill: UNC Press, 2002): 43-77.

Citino, Nathan.  From Arab Nationalism to OPEC:  Eisenhower, King Sa'ud, and the Making of US-Saudi Relations, Bloomington,  2002.

 Heiss, Mary Ann, Empire and Nationhood: The United States, Great Britain, and Iranian Oil, 1945-1950, NY, 1997.

Abdelrahman Munif, Cities of Salt (1989)

Doctrines:

Salim Yaquib, "Imperious Doctrines: U.S. Arab Relations from Dwight Eisenhower to George W. Bush," Diplomatic History (2002) 26 (4); 571-593.

Gendzier, Irene L. "Invisible by Design: US Policy in the Middle East." Diplomatic History (2002) 26 (4), 593-618.

Intervention:

Ussama Makdisi, Anti-Americanism in the Arab World - An Interpretation of a Brief History Journal of American History, Vol. 89, No. 2 Sept. 2002

Douglas Little, "Misison Impossible: The CIA and the Cult of Covert Action in the Middle East," Diplomatic History, Vol. 28, Issue 5, pp. 663-701.

Kinzer, Stephen, All the Shah's Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror, NY, 2003.

Israel:

Douglas Little, "The Making of A Special Relationship: America and Israel," in American Orientalism. The United States and the Middle East Since 1945 (Chapel Hill: UNC Press, 2002): 77-117.

Yaacov Bar-Siman-Tov, The United States and Israel since 1948: A "Special Relationship"? Diplomatic History, vol. 22, no.2 spring 1998 pp. 231-262

Hahn, Peter L. "The View from Jerusalem: Revelations about US Diplomacy from the Archives of Israel." Diplomatic History 22, no.4 (Fall 1998): 509-532

Bass, Warren, Support Any Friend: Kennedy's Middle East and the Making of the U.S.-Israel Alliance, NY, 2003.

 Ben-Zvi, Abraham,  Decade of Transition: Eisenhower, Kennedy, and the Origins of the American-Israeli Alliance, NY, 1998.

 Ben-Zvi, Abraham, The United States and Israel: The Limits of the Special Relationship, NY, 1993.

General:

Little, Douglas, American Orientalism: The United States and the Middle East since 1945, Chapel Hill, 2002.

McAlister, Melani, Epic Encounters: Culture, Media, and U.S. Interests in the Middle East, 1945-2000, Berkeley, 2001

Gasiorowski, Mark, U.S. Foreign Policy and the Shah: Building a Client State in Iran, Ithaca, 1991.

Brands, H.W., Into the Labyrinth: The United States and the Middle East, 1945-93, NY, 1994.

 Hersh, Seymour, The Samson Option: Israel's Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy, NY, 1991.

Videos and Movies: