As Iraq descends ever closer to civil war, no one doubts that George W. Bush's Iraq strategy has been an abysmal failure -- just as Gwynne Dyer argued it would be in both Ignorant Armies and Future: Tense. The question now is what will happen not just in Iraq but in the whole Middle East region once American troops are withdrawn. In The Mess They Made, Dyer predicts that the Middle East will go through the biggest shake up since the region was conquered and folded into the Ottoman Empire five centuries ago.

In his trademark vivid prose, and in arguments as clear as his research is thorough, Dyer brings his considerable knowledge and understanding of the region to bear on the issue of how widespread the meltdown in the Middle East will likely be. In five chapters, Dyer points the way from present policies and events to likely future developments in Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, and in the various other countries of the region, not least of which is nuclear-armed Israel.


From the Trade Paperback edition.

 Back to top | e-mail or print this page

"To understand what's really happening in Iraq, most of us could switch off the news and read Ignorant Armies instead."
—Vancouver Sun


From the Trade Paperback edition.

 Back to top | e-mail or print this page

Visit Gwynne Dyer's website

 Back to top | e-mail or print this page

Gwynne Dyer has worked as a freelance journalist, columnist, broadcaster, filmmakter, and lecturer on international affairs for more than twenty years but he was originally trained as an historian. Born in Newfoundland in 1943, he earned degrees from Canadian, American, and British universities, finishing with a Ph.D. in Military and Middle Eastern History from the University of London. He went on to serve in three navies and to hold academic appointments at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and at Oxford University. Since 1973, he has written a twice-weekly column on current events that is published in more than 175 newspapers worldwide and translated into more than a dozen languages. Dyer is the author of the award-winning book War (1986), which was updated and reissued in 2004, and of Ignorant Armies (2003) and Future: Tense (2004). He lives in London, England.


From the Trade Paperback edition.

 Back to top | e-mail or print this page