Ike's Gamble
America's Rise to Dominance in the Middle East
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Narrated by:
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Casey Jones
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By:
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Michael Doran
About this listen
This major retelling of the Suez Crisis of 1956 - one of the most important events in the history of US policy in the Middle East - shows how President Eisenhower came to realize that Israel, not Egypt, is America's strongest regional ally.
In 1956 President Nasser of Egypt moved to take possession of the Suez Canal, thereby bringing the Middle East to the brink of war. The British and the French, who operated the canal, joined with Israel in a plan to retake it by force. Despite the special relationship between England and America, Dwight Eisenhower intervened to stop the invasion.
In Ike's Gamble, Michael Doran shows how Nasser played the US, invoking America's opposition to European colonialism to drive a wedge between Eisenhower and two British Prime Ministers, Winston Churchill and Anthony Eden. Meanwhile, in his quest to make himself the strongman of the Arab world, Nasser was making weapons deals with the USSR and destabilizing other Arab countries that the US had been courting. The Suez Crisis was his crowning triumph. In time, Eisenhower would conclude that Nasser had duped him, that the Arab countries were too fractious to anchor America's interests in the Middle East, and that the US should turn instead to Israel.
Affording deep insight into Eisenhower and his foreign policy, this fascinating and provocative history provides a rich new understanding of how the US became the power broker in the Middle East.
©2016 Michael Doran (P)2016 Audible, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
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Drawing on new archival research, Robert Service's gripping new investigation of the final years of the Cold War - the first to give equal attention to the internal deliberations from both sides of the Iron Curtain - opens a window onto the dramatic years that would irrevocably alter the world's geopolitical landscape and the men at their fore.
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Behind the scenes look at a pivotal period of time
- By Mike From Mesa on 09-20-16
By: Robert Service
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Kissinger: Volume I
- 1923-1968: The Idealist
- By: Niall Ferguson
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 34 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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No American statesman has been as revered and as reviled as Henry Kissinger. Once hailed as "Super-K" - the "indispensable man" whose advice has been sought by every president from Kennedy to Obama - he has also been hounded by conspiracy theorists, scouring his every "telcon" for evidence of Machiavellian malfeasance. Yet as Niall Ferguson shows in this magisterial biography, the idea of Kissinger as the ruthless arch-realist is based on a profound misunderstanding.
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Riveting
- By Jean on 11-10-15
By: Niall Ferguson
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How Wars End
- Why We Always Fight the Last Battle
- By: Gideon Rose
- Narrated by: Gideon Rose
- Length: 12 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1991, the United States Army trounced the Iraqi army in battle only to stumble blindly into postwar turmoil. Then in 2003 the United States did it again. How could this happen? How could the strongest power in modern history fight two wars against the same opponent in just over a decade, win lightning victories both times, and yet still be woefully unprepared for the aftermath? Because Americans always forget the political aspects of war.
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Excellent book
- By Luis on 11-04-10
By: Gideon Rose
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Potsdam
- The End of World War II and the Remaking of Europe
- By: Michael Neiberg
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 10 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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After Germany's defeat in World War II, Europe lay in tatters. Millions of refugees were dispersed across the continent. Food and fuel were scarce. Britain was bankrupt while Germany had been reduced to rubble. In July 1945, Harry Truman, Winston Churchill, and Joseph Stalin gathered in a quiet suburb of Berlin to negotiate a lasting peace - a peace that would finally put an end to the conflagration that had started in 1914, a peace under which Europe could be rebuilt.
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Richly told and entertaining.
- By John Kaiser on 06-20-15
By: Michael Neiberg
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Yalta
- The Price of Peace
- By: S. M. Plokhy
- Narrated by: Henry Strozier
- Length: 22 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Award-winning Harvard historian S.M. Plokhy delivers a “convincing revisionist analysis” ( Publishers Weekly) of the February 1945 Yalta conference. Bolstered by Soviet wiretaps, Plokhy’s engrossing narrative of Stalin, Churchill, and FDR’s negotiations reveals the West did better than previously thought.
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The depth and breadth of understanding
- By Robin LaCorte on 06-27-19
By: S. M. Plokhy
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Road to Disaster
- A New History of America’s Descent into Vietnam
- By: Brian VanDeMark
- Narrated by: Ron Butler
- Length: 23 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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Many books have been written on the tragic decisions regarding Vietnam made by the stars of the Kennedy and Johnson administrations. Yet despite many words of analysis and reflection, no historian has been able to explain why such decent and previously successful men stumbled so badly. That changes with Road to Disaster. Historian Brian VanDeMark draws upon decades of archival research, his own interviews with many of those involved, and a wealth of previously unheard recordings by Robert McNamara and Clark Clifford, who served as Defense Secretaries for Kennedy and Johnson.
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Vietnam Veteran
- By Jim Rollins on 04-02-19
By: Brian VanDeMark
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The Sleepwalkers
- How Europe Went to War in 1914
- By: Christopher Clark
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 24 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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The Sleepwalkers is historian Christopher Clark's riveting account of the explosive beginnings of World War I. Drawing on new scholarship, Clark offers a fresh look at World War I, focusing not on the battles and atrocities of the war itself but on the complex events and relationships that led a group of well-meaning leaders into brutal conflict.
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Very interesting take on a complex problem
- By Steve on 01-24-15
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The China Mission
- By: Daniel Kurtz-Phelan
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 13 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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As World War II came to an end, General George Marshall was renowned as the architect of Allied victory. Set to retire, he instead accepted what he thought was a final mission - this time not to win a war, but to stop one. Across the Pacific, conflict between Chinese Nationalists and Communists threatened to suck in the United States and escalate into revolution. His assignment was to broker a peace, build a Chinese democracy, and prevent a Communist takeover, all while staving off World War III.
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A Previously Untold Story of a Failed Mission
- By Jonathan Love on 05-29-18
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Losing an Enemy
- Obama, Iran, and the Triumph of Diplomacy
- By: Trita Parsi
- Narrated by: Paul Boehmer
- Length: 17 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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This timely book focuses on President Obama's deeply considered strategy toward Iran's nuclear program and reveals how the historic agreement of 2015 broke the persistent stalemate in negotiations that had blocked earlier efforts. Drawing from more than 75 in-depth interviews with key decision-makers, including Iran's Foreign Minister Javad Zarif and US Secretary of State John Kerry, this is the first authoritative account of President Obama's signature foreign policy achievement.
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required reading
- By Seth K on 07-18-19
By: Trita Parsi
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Hanoi’s War
- An International History of the War for Peace in Vietnam
- By: Lien-Hang T. Nguyen
- Narrated by: Hillary Huber
- Length: 15 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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While most historians of the Vietnam War focus on the origins of US involvement and the Americanization of the conflict, Lien-Hang T. Nguyen examines the international context in which North Vietnamese leaders pursued the war and American intervention ended. This riveting narrative takes the listener from the marshy Mekong Delta swamps to the bomb-saturated Red River Delta, from the corridors of power in Hanoi and Saigon to the Nixon White House, and from the peace negotiations in Paris to high-level meetings in Beijing and Moscow.
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Understanding politics in SE Asia.
- By Mark U. on 04-26-15
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A Failed Empire
- The Soviet Union in the Cold War from Stalin to Gorbachev
- By: Vladimir Zubok
- Narrated by: Nick Sullivan
- Length: 20 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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Western interpretations of the Cold War--both realist and neoconservative--have erred by exaggerating either the Kremlin's pragmatism or its aggressiveness, argues Vladislav Zubok. Explaining the interests, aspirations, illusions, fears, and misperceptions of the Kremlin leaders and Soviet elites, Zubok offers a Soviet perspective on the greatest standoff of the 20th century.
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Focus on the Top Leadership
- By Augustus T. White on 08-13-10
By: Vladimir Zubok
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De Gaulle
- By: Julian Jackson
- Narrated by: James Adams
- Length: 41 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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In a definitive biography of the mythic general who refused to accept Nazi domination of France, Julian Jackson captures this titanic figure as never before. Drawing on unpublished letters, memoirs, and resources of the recently opened de Gaulle archive, he reveals how this volatile visionary put a broken France back at the center of world affairs.
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Extremely British approach to de Gaulle
- By Keith on 05-31-19
By: Julian Jackson
What listeners say about Ike's Gamble
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- WISDOC
- 11-29-16
A veiw of the little know post war history
If you could sum up Ike's Gamble in three words, what would they be?
It make the start of the Cold War mush more understandable.
Who was your favorite character and why?
Nasser. Not well know to this baby boomer.
Have you listened to any of Casey Jones’s other performances before? How does this one compare?
Jones narrative are my favorites for clarity.
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
No. But I might listen to it again due to much information that apply to current events.
Any additional comments?
This is one of several book helping understand the current problem between the West and the Middle Eastern mind.
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- Jean
- 01-10-17
Tightly Argued
Doran attempts to make this history relevant to today. He opens with “A new administration has come to power convinced that its predecessor has made a hash of Middle East Policy: the new team’s big idea: a bold diplomatic overture to the region’s leading Muslin State.”
The book covers the period from 1951 to 1961 and is about Dwight Eisenhower and Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt. Eisenhower tried wooing Nasser the first four years of his presidency. Nasser then grabbed the Canal in 1956 and aligned himself with the USSR. Doran states that in 1965 Eisenhower stated “I never should have pressured Israel to evacuate The Sinai.”
The book is well written and meticulously researched. The author states this research included newly released information from Russia. The author relied heavily on meeting reports, journals, diaries and memoirs of the key people involved. Doran admits he is providing a revisionist history in order to make his key point. Doran provides a background history then present Ike’s course of action and then analyzes the results. His in-depth analysis makes for interesting reading. The book covers a complex situation but is highly readable. Doran was the Middle East Advisor to the White House under the Bush Administration.
Casey Jones does a good job narrating the book. Jones is an award-winning audiobook narrator.
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5 people found this helpful
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- Caroline Pufalt
- 12-26-16
Amazing backstory
What interesting details on the background of all that led to the Suez crisis. Not sure I agree with all the author's conclusions, but what great history! A page turner in audio version
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1 person found this helpful
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- Jsaid
- 04-03-17
Eisenhower's evolution on the Middle East
captivating account takes listeners through the details of the 1956 Suez Crisis and along the way challenges the received wisdom about the events and their meanings.. this is not only a challenge to historians, but also to policymakers whose view of history shapes current events.
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1 person found this helpful
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- E. Hall
- 05-29-24
Great analysis
Interesting analysis of the assumptions that drove Eisenhower’s foreign policy in the Middle East and how does same assumptions persist today.
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- Jeff Beardsley
- 12-31-19
American Policy towards the Middle East in the 50s
“Ike’s Gamble” serves as a good introduction in to early United States efforts to engage politically in the Middle East during the 1950s, specifically during and after the Suez Canal Crisis. Michael Doran does a good job of engaging the thinking of President Eisenhower and his staff in their efforts to navigate the tricky business of working with allies, such as Britain and France, whose colonial spirit was still alive and sputtering its final breaths of life in the lead up to Suez, about which the U.S. had zero sympathies. Simultaneously, Eisenhower was trying to convince Egypt’s Nasser that he should engage in a policy leaning more toward the United States, and away from the Soviet Union. These efforts ultimately had the opposite effect that Eisenhower expected, with Nasser seemingly leaning to the U.S. and taking as much aid as it could from this country, while at the same time, and in reality, drawing ever closer to the USSR. There are lessons here for U.S. policy in the Middle East, and how we should never be entirely complacent that our “allies” in the region are playing the hands in the manner in which we think they have been dealt.
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