Military Review English Edition March-April 2016 | Page 140

parallel Americans at War include Lawrence Franks,
the former U.S. Army lieutenant who deserted U.S.
military service for the French Foreign Legion in 2009,
or the scores of U.S. citizens estimated to be fighting
the Islamic State in Kurdish Peshmerga formations.
Perhaps most applicable, though, might be insight that
readers can find in understanding the backgrounds of
the Americans who flocked to Europe in the last century and comparing them to the ultimately human motivations of the foreign fighters that have battled against
coalition forces in the Global War on Terrorism.
Maj. Lance B. Brender, U.S. Army, Fort
Leavenworth, Kansas

THE OTTOMAN ENDGAME: War, Revolution, and
the Making of the Modern Middle East, 1908-1923
Sean McMeekin, Penguin Press, New York, 2015,
550 pages

T

he Ottoman Endgame by Sean McMeekin
opens dramatically with the coronation of the
last independent Ottoman emperor, Abdul
Hamid, in 1876, and ends with the establishment of
modern Turkey by the Treaty of Lausanne in 1923.
Between those two seminal events, McMeekin narrates
a history of complex strategic decisions, momentous
battles, and human tragedy.
The story, in different forms, has been told before.
The genius of McMeekin’s work, however, is how he
highlights the importance of all actors—local, national,
religious, political, and military—in shaping the outcome that led to the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire
and the establishment of Turkey.
The simplistic belief that the troubles of the Middle
East are solely the result of the Sykes-Picot Agreement
and greedy division of the Ottoman Empire by France
and Great Britain is a great flaw of modern educated
discourse. This book’s importance lies in its ability to
explain the geopolitical decision making of the Entente
powers (to include Russia, usually ignored), as well as
that of the Ottomans, Imperial Germany, and local
ethnic groups such as the Arabs, Armenians, Greeks,
Jews, and Kurds.
Readers will note the numerous and forgotten
successes of the Ottomans in their final years. From
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the Balkan wars in the early twentieth century
to the final battles of World War I, the Ottoman
forces showed a particular ability to regenerate and
inflict grievous damage on their opponents. In fact,
the book highlights that rather than solely being
victims of Western imperialism, the Ottomans, and
particularly the Young Turks, who ran the operations of the state following the revolution of 1911,
were skilled at manipulating their opponents to
prolong the existence of the empire. This is illustrated dramatically by the resurgence of Turkish
forces under Mustapha Kamal after World War I
that led to the creation of Turkey.
Military officers will benefit from the analysis of
the numerous battles that shaped these outcomes.
Diplomats and geopolitical thinkers will achieve a
greater understanding of the forces and complex
negotiations at play in the Ottoman Empire’s final
years. Those historians and military enthusiasts with
knowledge of the era will gain a better perspective on
the relative importance of such iconic events as the
battle of Gallipoli and T.E. Lawrence’s support for the
Arab revolts, in comparison with the lesser-known
but equally important Russian and British battles in
the Caucuses.
The limits of McMeekin’s work lie in the breadth
of the topic he addresses, which inhibits in-depth
study of any single event, and the reliance of the
author on his previous works as sources. The book will
likely face criticism for its refusal to paint any group
purely as victims, no matter how decimated during
the last years of the Ottoman Empire. This detached
and pithy analysis proves a respite from other politically charged historical narratives. The only chink
in this detachment comes in McMeekin’s breathless
coverage of the nationalist Turkish resurgence against
the Greeks in 1922.
The Ottoman Endgame will prove to be an important addition to the academic literature on the final
years of the empire and the creation of the modern
Middle East. It acts as a cautionary tale to any entity
attempting to alter the geopolitical landscape of this
region. McMeekin’s narrative has no innocent leaders,
only actors skillfully seeking the best possible outcomes
for their associated groups.
Maj. Roland Minez, U.S. Army Reserve, Fort
Leavenworth, Kansas
March-April 2016  MILITARY REVIEW