CHECKMATE

Using chess pieces, this political work analyzes the maddening complexity of the Middle East and America’s foreign policy regarding the region.

At the heart of Buonocore’s thoughtful and wide-ranging assessment of Middle Eastern politics is the game of chess as a metaphor: “The Middle East is a 3.5 million-square-mile chessboard.” Along these lines, the United States is the queen—the “all powerful, all reaching piece”—whose fate the entire game rests on. China and Russia are knights—“disruptive” and “nimble,” if limited in the reach of their powers. Turkey and Israel are bishops, the former more important than Saudi Arabia given its military might and the latter a nuclear power with the backing of the queen. Iran and Egypt are rooks—largely valuable because of their historical ability to endure—while Britain and France are merely pawns, limited in the extension of their powers, still relying on old, outdated foreign policies. The prohibitive restrictions of the illustrative schemata should be obvious, and the author freely admits his unsophisticated understanding of chess strategy. But his analysis is far more nuanced than his gimmicky employment of a metaphorical conceit—he admirably believes that answers lie “in the distant past.” Furthermore, while he contends the “end-state” for the region cannot yet be confidently surmised, he sees no way for the U.S. to safely withdraw: “Whether we like it or not, whether it suits political messaging or not, we are in it for the long run. Sustained engagement to build trust is the only way forward. The Queen has an appointment with the history of the Middle East, and it must keep that appointment.” Buonocore concedes his editor and some book critics call his writing style “verbose, flowery, arabesque, and prone to hyperboles” and say that he avoids “extensive details”—these are not minor failings. Still, he has considerable experience in the region, including as a reserve foreign area officer in the Navy, and that worldly background certainly shows in the depth of his analysis.

Despite its limitations, a serious and provocative Middle East assessment.