Like physicians treating a misdiagnosed disease, policymakers frequently exacerbate problems by failing to identify the core drivers shaping our era. At the heart of much global unrest lies the US’ covert interventions in the Arab and Islamic worlds, which have engineered instability and molded sociopolitical-economic frameworks that amplify these challenges. After the Second World War, Britain’s imperial hold on the Middle East frayed amid rising Arab and Jewish nationalist fervor. Through institutionalized coups and clandestine operations, the US commandeered the Arab and Islamic spheres, supplanting British remnants with methods that bred chronic discord. Since 1949, these interventions have chased fleeting victories, resource dominion, Israeli protection and ideological containment at the cost of enduring peace, spawning autocracy and animosity.