---
product_id: 23602144
title: "Power, Faith, and Fantasy: America in the Middle East: 1776 to the Present"
brand: "michael b. oren"
price: "441 kr"
currency: DKK
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 9
url: https://www.desertcart.dk/products/23602144-power-faith-and-fantasy-america-in-the-middle-east-1776
store_origin: DK
region: Denmark
---

# Power, Faith, and Fantasy: America in the Middle East: 1776 to the Present

**Brand:** michael b. oren
**Price:** 441 kr
**Availability:** ✅ In Stock

## Quick Answers

- **What is this?** Power, Faith, and Fantasy: America in the Middle East: 1776 to the Present by michael b. oren
- **How much does it cost?** 441 kr with free shipping
- **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship
- **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.dk](https://www.desertcart.dk/products/23602144-power-faith-and-fantasy-america-in-the-middle-east-1776)

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- michael b. oren enthusiasts

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## Description

Power, Faith, and Fantasy: America in the Middle East: 1776 to the Present

## Images

![Power, Faith, and Fantasy: America in the Middle East: 1776 to the Present - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/W/IMAGERENDERING_521856-T1/images/I/7141eSS6t6L.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    Comprehensive
  

*by E***K on Reviewed in the United States on May 18, 2017*

A full comprehensive, and very interesting account that truly brings the current IS involvement in the Middle East in perspective. Long, sometimes too long in certain discussions, not necessarily always an easy read. But definitely recommended for anyone who wants a good understanding of this often convoluted history and fractured relationship between the US and Middle Eastern societies.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    Easy read. Needs to be updated after the "Arab Spring."
  

*by R***I on Reviewed in the United States on June 24, 2012*

Michael Oren does a good job in two fronts:1. Fills a vacuum in history for most Americans and for that matter, and particularly, for most Muslims.2. As a historian, needed to respect facts over entertainment, I think he achieves both goals fairly well.If asked, most people would date the relations between Americans and the Middle East to the last few decades. As Oren explains, nothing is farther from the truth. The relationship has certainly changed, but it has always been there. Initially through missionaries, merchants  and explorers, and lately diplomatically and militarily.This relationship, according to Oren has quite often been one-sided. After failing to convert Muslims, Americans established Universities and institutions that helped Middle Easterners integrate to modern life, often with great success.In many ways, some aspects of this relationship has not changed. While the UK was paying "protection" money to the Barbary states so they would not attack their ships, when America became independent, its commercial ships became targets of the same pirates. The decision of whether to pay or fight was not an easy one, and in many ways reflects similar more recent situations. In any event, few people know that Tripoli (the Barbary States) was the first entity to declare war to America back in 1801.Oren uses three elements to explain this relationship: Power, Faith and Fantasy. The increased power that America wielded is obviously a factor that plays a central role, but very different from the one wielded by the Europeans, who always saw in the Middle East a source for their resources. It can be said that more often than not, the US applied force was to rescue or improve the lives of Muslims.Faith also played a central role in two ways. On one  hand, missionaries risked everything to spread their faith and saw in the Holy Land a place whose rightful owner were the Jews. At the state level, Oren describes the decision making process of several US presidents, who often had to find a balance between pragmatism and beliefs.The aspect that can arguably explain the US-Middle East relationship is what Oren calls Fantasy, represented in literature, movies and initially in international expositions. Oren argues that art reflects the perception that Americans have of the Middle East. Initially remote and sensuous, and more recently, permeated with fanaticism and terror. One can argue that a movie about terrorism as a historic document doesn't have much value, but Oren is out there to put some "salt" on something that has been cooked already with facts, and that makes it more interesting.Perhaps where the book is not as objective is in the more recent history. The author over-emphasizes the importance Arabs give to the presence of Israel in the Middle East as a source of many of the grievances. Since it was written before the "Arab Spring," it is clear to many that the biggest problems of Arabs and Muslims is not external, that their sufferings are often self-inflicted, and that they have forgotten what Americans have done for them in over 200 years.All in all, it's an easy reading for people interested in understanding a region that like it or not, in our time has become our virtual neighbor.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    A new light on US history.
  

*by J***Q on Reviewed in the United States on November 8, 2015*

Finishing this superb treatise has left me nearly mute. How can one man know his subject so well and share the information so readily? After seizing upon original insights does one not keep them to one's self and savor, at least awhile, their enlightening truths? Not so, apparently, with this brilliant researcher, historian and storyteller. He shares his conclusions on every page, studded with the vocabulary of a Mensa fanatic.I learned more U. S. History than expected. Not just facts, but subtle nuances and striking interactions which leap out at the intent reader. For no other author have I so lamented nearing the final pages of the book. Michael B. Oren is a joy to read in every work he has written. Having now read them all, I think I shall reread his latest, ALLY. It endears one to Oren and makes one hope that he has another book ready for the publisher.

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*Product available on Desertcart Denmark*
*Store origin: DK*
*Last updated: 2026-01-28*