Rashid Khalidi discusses his new book, Sowing Crisis: the Cold War and American Dominance in the Middle East. For over 45 years in the Cold War, the US and Soviet Union engaged in a deadly global rivalry, using political and military policy to win allies and exert power. How did these Cold War strategies shape the political and ideological landscape in the Middle East? What was the impact of American policy, driven to win the Cold War regardless of cost, to the nation states and their economies in this most dangerous region? Is there a connection between American need to defeat the Russians by humiliating their friends in the Middle East and wide spread support for the 9/11 attacks among the "Arab street"? Recognizing the US historical standing in the Middle East, what should the new Obama presidency do? **Rashid Khalidi** is the Edward Said chair in Arab Studies and the director of the Middle East Institute at Columbia University. Considered the preeminent scholar among US historians of the Middle East, he is the author of five major books and more than 75 articles on Middle Eastern history and politics.