The Evolution of Western Aid for Palestinian Civil Society: Bypassing Local Knowledge and Resources

This article casts a sceptical eye on the seemingly glowing reputation of the United States amongst the elites of Greater Syria during the First World War era. It argues that although this reputation was based on genuine appreciation of good deeds performed by Americans in the region, it was also based on a mistaken impression of the nature of America's global role in this era and was most likely not as emphatic as it sometimes appears in the historical record. In doing this, the article seeks to raise questions about the place that such utterances should occupy in histories of the modern Middle East.