Best of Enemies: A History of US and Middle East Relations, Part One: 1783-1953

by Jean-Pierre Filiu, David B.

Overview

“Best of Enemies is surely destined to stand alongside Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis as a graphic history of the Middle East. A must read for anyone interested in learning, or teaching, about the region.”—Mark Levine, professor of history at UC-Irvine and author of Heavy Metal Islam

In the third volume of their graphic history of US and Middle East relations, Jean-Pierre Filiu and David B. take in the tumultuous period that began with Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait in 1990 and ended with Obama’s decision, in 2013, not to intervene in Syria.

Spanning the First Gulf War, the rise of al-Qaeda, the military response to September 11, and the present conflict in Syria, Best of Enemies: Part Three is propelled by a clash between four presidents and their Middle Eastern antagonists: on the one hand, George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama; on the other, Saddam Hussein, Osama bin Laden, and Bashar al-Assad. Covering 30 years of conflict and diplomacy, Best of Enemies: Part Three is a breezy and engaging guide to the events that shaped the politics of today.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781906838454
Publisher:	SelfMadeHero
Publication date:	05/15/2012
Series:	Best of Enemies
Pages:	120
Product dimensions:	6.90(w) x 9.50(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Jean-Pierre Filiu, a historian and Arabist, is a professor at Sciences Po, Paris. He has been an advisor to the French Minister for the Interior and regularly lectures at Harvard and MIT.

David B. is an Eisner-nominated artist best known for his graphic novel Epileptic.

Editorial Reviews

Lies, greed, imperialism, cruelty, intolerance: the history of U.S. and Middle East relations involves bad behavior on both sides, dating back centuries. In this first of three volumes, professor and former diplomat Filiu (Arab Revolution; Apocalypse in Islam) begins with the murderous aggression of Gilgamesh-as-avatar, cunningly appropriating dialog from speeches of George W. Bush and Donald Rumsfeld concerning the invasion of Iraq. His focus then moves to 1780s skirmishes with Muslim city-states over maritime piracy, shifting priorities of Christian and Muslim nations over oil and anti-Semitism, and the subsequent ousting by the Americans and the British of Iran's Mohammad Mossadegh, who wanted to nationalize the oil industry. This complex and unsavory saga is told concisely and vividly, enhanced by David B.'s marvelously inventive pen-and-inks, which won an award from the French magazine dBD. VERDICT Showing decisively that neither war nor international diplomacy is a walk in the park, Filiu invites us to consider what choices could be made given these countries' turbulent legacies. While maps, chronologies, additional notes, and resources would have been valuable, this will prove a riveting read to many aficionados, teens and up, of Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis and others interested in Middle East issues.

Library Journal