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Expert in Middle East politics Dr Christopher Davidson says more than a century of interference in the Middle East by the US and the UK has given rise to the bloody religious wars, sectarian politics and revolutions that have blighted the region.

Davidson argues that western powers have repeatedly manipulated the region’s most powerful players to secure their own interests. This went on during the Cold War, the ‘war on terror’ and continues today in an era defined by the so-called Islamic State. And he argues that US intelligence agencies see Islamic State as a strategic asset to be used against their enemies, as they did Al Qaeda before it.

“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

Davidson is a reader in Middle East politics at Durham University.