"This is the best and most informative book yet on the struggle for power among the US and Europe, Arab autocratic regimes, and these countries’ impoverished masses.... Highly recommended." ―CHOICE Magazine **

*"Who are these people? Where did they come from? What do they want?* SHADOW WARS makes the answers painfully, damningly clear... if some future solution is discovered, it'll be thanks to the path-clearing of books like this one."
**―The Christian Science Monitor **

**”Davidson is especially dogged at ‘following the money’—e.g., the rise of crony-capitalist networks in the Gulf monarchies and the financing of al-Qaida and Islamic State… An exhaustively researched account.”
—Kirkus Reviews **

The brief euphoria that followed the ‘Arab Spring’ of 2011 quickly gave way to religious politics, sectarian war, and the most brutal incarnations of Islamic extremism ever seen. In the aftermath, people around the world once more lamented the Middle East’s inability to build functioning modern states. However, the reality is that this turn of events fits firmly into a centuries-old pattern of uprisings and reactions involving not only the region’s elites and their opponents but also the interests of foreign powers.

Middle East expert Christopher M. Davidson makes the argument that the primary blame for the failure of the Arab Spring and the rise of Islamic extremists, including al-Qaeda and Islamic State, must rest with successive U.S. and U.K. governments. A systematic dissection of ongoing Western manipulations of the most powerful forces in the Middle East, Shadow Wars is a shocking book that demands to be read.**

Review

"This is the best and most informative book yet on the struggle for power among the US and Europe, Arab autocratic regimes, and these countries’ impoverished masses.... Highly recommended." ―CHOICE Magazine **

"Who are these people? Where did they come from? What do they want? SHADOW WARS makes the answers painfully, damningly clear... if some future solution is discovered, it'll be thanks to the path-clearing of books like this one."
**―The Christian Science Monitor **

"This is an outstanding book, bracing in its understanding of the rapacious forces that set upon the Middle East and meticulous in weaving the historical threads that explain why."
― John Pilger

"A thought provoking and original take on the present catastrophic realities in the Middle East. This is a timely research into the causes of the failure of the Arab Spring. It deems the defeat of the Arab Spring; as a counter revolution prompted by external interventions. The book is a tour de force that begins with the past European Revolutions and ends up with an intriguing and highly convincing analysis of the demise of the Arab Spring. No one is spared in this incisive analysis: Arab regimes, fundamentalist movements, the West and Israel are all castigated here for their responsibility for the suffering of the people of Middle East today."
**―Ilan Pappe, Professor of History, University of Exeter **

"An avalanche of spies, lies, covert actions and overt aggression; Davidson shows how many of the West's troubles in the Middle East have emerged from its relentless search for resources."
―Leif Wenar, Professor and Chair in Philosophy and Law, King's College London

"Plunges into America's move to center stage and how it has sustained its ravenous postwar economy by preserving access to crude oil imports at any cost...Davidson is especially dogged at following the money e.g., the rise of crony-capitalist networks in the Gulf monarchies and the financing of al-Qaeda and of the new Islamic State group... An exhaustively researched account."
**―Kirkus **

"Mr Davidson is one of the most knowledgeable academics writing about the region."
**― The Economist **

“An absolute must read … addicting, as it thoroughly obliterates the standard narrative on Libya, Syria, Yemen, and other post ‘Arab Spring’ conflicts…. Such a hard hitting and well-documented presentation chronicling the facts of the US/UK fueling jihad in Syria and elsewhere, written from within the heart of academia, should be on everyone’s bookshelf.”
**―The Libertarian Review

About the Author

Christopher M. Davidson is a reader in Middle East Politics at Durham University. His last book, After the Sheikhs , was one of the Foreign Policy Association's most significant books of 2013.