I have been reading Michael Oren's, Power, Faith and Fantasy, America in the Middle East 1776 to the Present. Oren writes on the Middle East as one who lives in the region and is very familiar with the long turbulent history of the region. Focusing on America's involvement in the region gives us a 230 year chronology that puts our present policies in perspective.

It all began with the Barbary pirates raids on American ships in the early days of the nation. When the Marines sing, "From the halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli" they refer to this period and the efforts undertaken to establish American sovereignty in the eyes of the world. The pirates were eventually subdued and American ships began calling at Mediterranean ports including Istanbul. By the 1820's the Americans supplied the region with some twelve million gallons of rum annually and purchased most of Turkey's opium crop. Not a good legacy.

What is most fascinating are the stories of missionaries who went to the region to spread Christianity. The desire to convert Muslims is  a futile tale, the faith and the fantasy of the books title. Efforts to establish settlements in Palestine to hasten the day of Christ's return offer other sad stories of futility. If there is one lesson, it is that no human effort to found a millennial realm in Israel has succeeded. Misunderstanding prophecy leads to much wasted effort and life.

So far it has been a good book. I'll write more on it as I wade through it.