Epic Encounters

Epic Encounters: Culture, Media, & U.S. Interests in the Middle East since 1945, by Melani McAlister, is a thorough discussion of the ways in which the Middle East and its people have been percieved in American culture. As the title tells, the body of the book is concerned with the post-1945 era; however, a lengthy Introduction details the period before then as well. The U.S. always saw Middle East as first of all the “Holy Land,” and second of all as a producer of oil (1). Through these factors, the Middle East was a place whose control was of high importance (2). However, the particular details of the American view of the Middle East frequently shifted with current events, such as in response to the failures of the Vietnam War. It is detailing these shifts and their historical contexts that McAlister spends the body of her book.

Many of the U.S.-Middle East relations centered on opinions of the U.S. as a military power and on its role in the world. McAlister paralleled the “benevolent supremacy” of the men in Biblical epic movies to the role the U.S. sought to take in the 1947-1960 era: the U.S. would serve as a protecting ally to newly freed nations against Soviet or British (colonial) rule. While the U.S. would not be a formal colonizer, it would still be the master of the fates of “subordinated third world nationalism” (82). After the embarrassing defeat of U.S. forces in Vietnam, the American popular culture looked to Israel as an example of the masculinity (190) and military will (185) that could “teach… [America] what is necessary to save itself” (192). From the Iran Hostage Crisis of 1979-1981 the United States emerged as the leader of international “struggle against terrorism” (217). The Gulf War of 1991 presented a front against which the American people, whose diversity was increasingly visible and championed (246), could unite. Moreover, “the diversity of its armed forces made the United States a world citizen…As the military would represent the diversity of the United States, the United States, as represented in its military, would contain the world” (250). During the Cold War years the United States defined itself largely by its ability to control international politics, and the Middle East served as an arena for conquest and military exercise.

American culture drew upon the Middle East in its internal struggles as well. The formation of Israel had particular importance. Black Christian civil rights leaders drew both parallels between their struggles and the Jewish exodus (87), and inspiration from the formation of Israel (89). On the other hand, the Nation of Islam saw the formation of Israel from formerly Arab/Muslim lands as imperialism by the West (99), similar to the subordination of blacks in America by whites. The well-integrated diversity of the U.S. armed forces of the Gulf War was seen as both a model for civilian life (252) and as a means for the social advancement of minority men and women (254).

The United States was never able to solidify its feelings about the Middle East. Dependence upon OPEC oil made the U.S. unable to either accept or wholly revile the Middle East. The foundation of Israel was a source of resentment towards the U.S. by the Arabic world but a source of religious inspiration and meaning to Americans. This reader appreciated Epic Encounters‘s extremely thorough treatment of American-Middle Eastern politics after World War II. What remains to be addressed is how Middle Eastern immigrants will be viewed in the United States and how the presence of Middle Easterners in the U.S. will affect the shifting views of that part of the world.

Work Cited

McAlister, Melani. Epic Encounters: Culture, Media, & U.S. Interests in the Middle East since 1945. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2005.