Marcia C. Inhorn, America’s Arab Refugees: Vulnerability and Health on the Margins (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2018).
Jadaliyya (J): What made you write this book?
Marcia C. Inhorn (MCI): The world is in the midst of the worst refugee crisis since World War Two. The majority of those refugees are from three Middle Eastern countries—Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria. The United States started the wars in Afghanistan (in 2001) and in Iraq (in both 1991 and 2003). Yet, few Americans seem to tie the current refugee crisis in any way to US military interventions.
This book attempts to do just that. It shows how US wars in the Middle East have been devastating to the health and well-being of Middle Eastern populations. Furthermore, it shows how ongoing US military interventions have contributed to death, destruction, and heightened political instability. But the main goal of this book is to tie these wars to the flight of Arab refugees. It asks the fundamental question: What does America owe to Arab refugees, whose lives and homes have been shattered?
