Epic encounters : culture, media, and U.S. interests in the Middle East since 1945 / Melani McAlister.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

McAlister, Melani, 1962-

Series:

American crossroads.

American crossroads

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Mass media and public opinion--United States.

Mass media and public opinion.

Public opinion--United States.

Public opinion.

Middle East--Foreign relations--United States.

Middle East.

United States--Foreign relations--Middle East.

United States.

Middle East--Foreign public opinion, American.

United States--Civilization--1945-.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (430 p.)

Edition:

Updated ed., with a post-9/11 chapter.

Place of Publication:

Berkeley : University of California Press, c2005.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Epic Encounters examines how popular culture has shaped the ways Americans define their "interests" in the Middle East. In this innovative book-now brought up-to-date to include 9/11 and the Iraq war-Melani McAlister argues that U.S. foreign policy, while grounded in material and military realities, is also developed in a cultural context. American understandings of the region are framed by narratives that draw on religious belief, news media accounts, and popular culture. This remarkable and pathbreaking book skillfully weaves lively and accessible readings of film, media, and music with a rigorous analysis of U.S. foreign policy, race politics, and religious history. The new chapter, titled "9/11 and After: Snapshots on the Road to Empire," considers and brilliantly analyzes five images that have become iconic: (1) New York City firemen raising the American flag out of the rubble of the World Trade Center, (2) the televised image of Osama bin-Laden, (3) Afghani women in burqas, (4) the statue of Saddam Hussein being toppled in Baghdad, and (5) the hooded and wired prisoner in Abu Ghraib. McAlister's singular achievement is to illuminate the contexts of these five images both at the time they were taken and as they relate to current events, an accomplishment all the more remarkable since-to paraphrase her new preface-we are today struggling to look backward at something that is still rushing ahead.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Illustrations

Preface To The 2005 Edition

Preface To The First Edition

Introduction

1. "Benevolent Supremacy"

2. The Middle East In African American Cultural Politics, 1955-1972

3. King Tut, Commodity Nationalism, And The Politics Of Oil, 1973-1979

4. The Good Fight

5. Iran, Islam, And The Terrorist Threat, 1979-1989

6. Military Multiculturalism In The Gulf War And After, 1990-1999

Conclusion<subtitle 9/11 and After: Snapshots on the Road to Empire

Acknowledgments

Notes

Bibliography

Filmography

Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references, filmography and index.

ISBN:

9786613587176

9781280491948

1280491949

9780520932012

0520932013

OCLC:

793511414