Kicking the Hornet's Nest

Daniel E. Zoughbie is a complex-systems scientist, a historian, and an expert on presidential decision-making. He is associate project scientist at the Institute of International Studies at UC Berkeley; a faculty affiliate of the UCSF/UCB Center for Global Health Delivery, Diplomacy, and Economics; and a faculty affiliate at the New England Complex Systems Institute in Cambridge. He is also principal investigator of the Middle East and North Africa Diplomacy, Development, and Defense Initiative and author of Indecision Points: George W. Bush and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. His award-winning research has been published in journals such as PLOS Medicine, PLOS Complex Systems, Mayo Clinic Proceedings, JAIDS, and Social Science and Medicine. Zoughbie has been appointed to positions at Georgetown University, Stanford University, Harvard University, University of Bologna, University College Dublin, University of Athens, and Campus Bio Medico University of Rome. Zoughbie graduated Phi Beta Kappa from UC Berkeley. He studied at Oxford on a Marshall Scholarship and completed his doctorate, also at Oxford, as a Weidenfeld Scholar.

“Learning the lessons recounted in this book will inform whether U.S. foreign policy succeeds or fails in the future."—Leon E. Panetta, former Director CIA, Secretary of Defense “This book is a must-read for those wanting to understand the complexities involved in Middle East conflicts and the reasons why our policies have failed.”—General Anthony Zinni, USMC (retired), former commander in chief of CENTCOM, and former US special envoy to Israel and the Palestinian Authority “Daniel E. Zoughbie tracks the tensions in foreign policy—the incidentals of urgent personalities and the fundamentals of enduring national interest—between the shallow and the deep. Most importantly, he underscores the need for wisdom and reflection when interfering in the affairs of other nations. I wish I had read his book years ago.”—Sir Mark Allen CMG, former head of MI6 Counter-Terrorism and honorary fellow at St. Antony’s College, Oxford “Zoughbie’s analysis of 80 years of trauma and prescription for the escalating and dangerous situation in the Middle East is wise and penetrating. American foreign policy leaders need to read it, absorb it, and act on it.”—Chuck Hagel, former U.S. Secretary of Defense and former member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee “I strongly encourage you to read this thoroughly researched study from Daniel E. Zoughbie.”—Admiral Bobby R. Inman, US Navy (retired), former director of the National Security Agency, and former deputy director of the CIA “An engrossing account of how the blunders, indecisiveness, and exalted hubris of 12 presidents from Truman through Trump’s first term have transformed the Middle East into a destabilizing force…A stimulating, well-researched examination.” —Kirkus, starred review “A thought-provoking examination of American policymaking in one of the world’s most volatile regions. Whether readers agree with Zoughbie’s conclusions or not, his book will force them to reconsider whether decades of intervention have done more harm than good.”—The Washington Post “Full of keenly observed historical detail and trenchant critiques of US policy gone wrong.”—The Financial Times “An important book both for beginners and veterans of the study of U.S. diplomacy in the Middle East.”—Daniel Kurtzer, Former US Ambassador to Israel and Professor of Middle East Policy Studies, Princeton University  “An enlightening tour de force of America’s Middle East policy from 1945 to the present. While scrutinizing the misconceptions that informed the policies of most US presidents, Dr. Zoughbie’s book is also a timely call to abandon the politics of domination through sheer hard power in favor of wise diplomacy and the advancement of human and physical development.”—Shlomo Ben Ami, Former Israeli Foreign Minister and author of Prophets Without Honor