Benghazi!
A New History of the Fiasco that Pushed America and its World to the Brink
Published on 6. September 2022
432 pages
978-0-306-82974-1 (ISBN)
Description
On the 10th anniversary of the attack in Benghazi, a startling reconsideration of one of the defining controversies of our era, from a noted Libya expert and eyewitness to the attack
Ten years after an attack on the US diplomatic mission in Benghazi killed US Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans, cries of "Benghazi!" still ring across America. But instead of a landmark event to be taken seriously, it has become a punchline, an empty word shouted with anger and frustration, or a code for controversy and political theatre. In this thrilling retelling, Ethan Chorin changes the narrative on Benghazi, revealing it as a watershed moment in American history, one that helped create the world we live in today.
Untangling the narrative with new clarity, Chorin reveals Benghazi as a crisis for America's involvement with the Middle East, a consequence of decades of failed US foreign policy, and a frightening turning point for America's deepening political division. Beginning with decades of Libyan history and American policy decisions that laid the groundwork for the attack, Chorin draws on both his own bone-chilling experience during the Benghazi attack and his expertise as a former diplomat and scholar of Libyan history to demystify the attack and its continuing impact on America. His account also incorporates new interviews with key policy makers and witnesses that shed new light on the events. With this ambitious, engaging narrative, Chorin makes clear why Benghazi still matters so much ten years later-and why we can't afford to continue overlooking and misunderstanding it.
Ten years after an attack on the US diplomatic mission in Benghazi killed US Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans, cries of "Benghazi!" still ring across America. But instead of a landmark event to be taken seriously, it has become a punchline, an empty word shouted with anger and frustration, or a code for controversy and political theatre. In this thrilling retelling, Ethan Chorin changes the narrative on Benghazi, revealing it as a watershed moment in American history, one that helped create the world we live in today.
Untangling the narrative with new clarity, Chorin reveals Benghazi as a crisis for America's involvement with the Middle East, a consequence of decades of failed US foreign policy, and a frightening turning point for America's deepening political division. Beginning with decades of Libyan history and American policy decisions that laid the groundwork for the attack, Chorin draws on both his own bone-chilling experience during the Benghazi attack and his expertise as a former diplomat and scholar of Libyan history to demystify the attack and its continuing impact on America. His account also incorporates new interviews with key policy makers and witnesses that shed new light on the events. With this ambitious, engaging narrative, Chorin makes clear why Benghazi still matters so much ten years later-and why we can't afford to continue overlooking and misunderstanding it.
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Person
Ethan Chorin is a former diplomat, senior political analyst, author, and environmental entrepreneur. From 2004 to 2006, he was one of a handful of US diplomats posted to Libya to help set up a US mission in the wake of the rapprochement with Colonel Gaddafi. Six years later, as co-director of an NGO working to help build medical infrastructure in Eastern Libya, he became a witness to the Benghazi attack and its aftermath. A year later, he was nominated by both Sen. Dianne Feinstein and Sen. John McCain to succeed Stevens as ambassador. From 2020-2021, he was Sr. Advisor to the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs of the UAE.
A widely respected expert on Libya, Chorin is the author of Exit the Colonel: The Hidden History of the Libyan Revolution and Translating Libya: In Search of the Libyan Short Story. His work on Libya, the Middle East, and Iran has appeared in the New York Times, the Financial Times, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, Prospect, Forbes, Newsweek, and others. He has been a regular commentator on Libya for the BBC, and has also appeared on CNBC, CNN, CBS, and C-SPAN.
Chorin holds a PhD in Agriculture and Resource Economics and an MA in Economic History from UC Berkeley, a Master's in International Policy Studies from Stanford, and a BA from Yale with distinction in Near Eastern Languages and Literatures. He has been a Fulbright Scholar (Jordan) and Fulbright-Hays fellow (Yemen), and he has held fellow and senior fellow positions at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the Yale School of Management, and the Dubai School of Government. He lives in the New York area.
A widely respected expert on Libya, Chorin is the author of Exit the Colonel: The Hidden History of the Libyan Revolution and Translating Libya: In Search of the Libyan Short Story. His work on Libya, the Middle East, and Iran has appeared in the New York Times, the Financial Times, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, Prospect, Forbes, Newsweek, and others. He has been a regular commentator on Libya for the BBC, and has also appeared on CNBC, CNN, CBS, and C-SPAN.
Chorin holds a PhD in Agriculture and Resource Economics and an MA in Economic History from UC Berkeley, a Master's in International Policy Studies from Stanford, and a BA from Yale with distinction in Near Eastern Languages and Literatures. He has been a Fulbright Scholar (Jordan) and Fulbright-Hays fellow (Yemen), and he has held fellow and senior fellow positions at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the Yale School of Management, and the Dubai School of Government. He lives in the New York area.
