MIT Starr Forum — Grand Delusion: The Rise and Fall of American Ambition in the Middle East

Grand Delusion reveals that the story of four decades of American involvement in the Middle East, while episodically impressive, was too often tragic and at times dishonorable. As we enter a new era in foreign policy, this is an essential book, a cautionary history that illuminates American’s propensity for self-deception and misadventure at a moment when the nation is redefining its engagement with a world in crisis. Join us for an in-person event at MIT. For those unable to join us at the event, please register to watch via webcast here. Speaker:  Steve Simon is the Robert E Wilhelm Fellow at the MIT Center for International Studies (CIS). He is a non-resident senior research analyst with the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft—a think tank based in Washington, DC. He served as the National Security Council (NSC) senior director for the Middle East and North Africa during the Obama Administration and as the NSC senior director for counterterrorism in the Clinton White House. These assignments followed a fifteen-year career at the US Department of State and academic teaching posts. His newly published book is “Grand Delusion: The Rise and Fall of American Ambition in the Middle East” (Penguin Random House, April 2023). The book will be available for purchase at the event. Discussant: Andrew Bacevich is Professor Emeritus of International Relations and History at Boston University. He co-founded the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft in 2019 and is the Chairman of the institution’s board of directors. A graduate of West Point and Princeton, he served in the army before becoming an academic. Bacevich is the author, co-author, or editor of more than a dozen books. His most recent books are “Paths of Dissent: Soldiers Speak Out against America’s Forever Wars” (2022), and “On Shedding an Obsolete Past: Bidding Farewell to the American Century” (2022). Steve Simon’s new book will be signed and sold at a 20% discount at the event. A credit card transaction will be required to purchase a book at the event. To order the book in advance, email the MIT Press Bookstore here. Co-sponsors:  MIT Center for International Studies (CIS), the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, and the MIT Press Bookstore.