Examines America's policies toward the Middle East from 1977 to 1979 and discusses the negotiation of the peace treaty between Israel and Egypt

Ambassador Chas W. Freeman Jr. is one of America's most brilliant, experienced—and witty—diplomats. America's Misadventures starts with his previously unpublished reflection on Pres. George H. W. Bush's handling of the Iraq-Kuwait crisis of 1990-91. (He was U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia at the time.) In the thoughtful essays that follow, Freeman reflects on the origins of Washington's many intelligence failures in the Middle East, "the American way of war", and Washington's failure in recent decades to plan for a stable political end-state for the wars it has so cavalierly launched. As Prof. William B. Quandt notes in his Foreword: there is much to learn about “old-style” diplomacy here, and much to regret that Freeman’s views seem so “radical” from the perspective of today’s highly politicized discourse about this crucial region.

Each of the past six U.S. presidents has become deeply involved in the diplomacy surrounding the Arab-Israeli conflict. The same has certainly been true for President Bill Clinton. In this book, William Quandt offers the hopeful message that the United States, if it plays its role of mediator skillfully, can contribute to a resolution of the dispute between Israel and its Arab neighbors. He cautions, however, that presidents and their advisers have often misread the realities of the Middle East and pursued flawed policies—especially during the years when the Middle East was viewed through a cold war lens. The result was, at times, a worsening of the conflict.Quandt provides a detailed account of American policy toward the Arab-Israeli conflict since the June 1967 war. He assesses each administration's initial approach to the problem of peacemaking, along with the evolution of policy as it confronted the stubborn realities of the region and the minefields of domestic political controversy. Given the complexity of the challenge, American policy has shown remarkable consistency and surprising successes, not least that Egypt and Israel are at peace with one another and are both friendly to the United States. More recently, other Arab parties have begun to negotiate with Israel under American auspices. One of the points on which presidents of both political parties have agreed is that an American role in support of Arab-Israeli peace is consistent with American national interests.A participant in the policymaking process on two occasions as a member of the National Security Council staff in the Nixon and Carter administrations, Quandt brings his experience to bear on this analysis of how decisions are made on a particularly sensitive foreign policy issue. The book concludes with lessons derived from a quarter century of American involvement with the Arab-Israeli peace process.

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Product Description: For the past four years, Algeria has been torn by brutal political violence. The crisis has now spread to France, where Muslim groups have engaged in terrorist activities. Throughout the Maghreb and Western Europe, there is fear that the struggle in Algeria, if left untended, could destabilize North Africa, unsettle Southern Europe, and adversely affect the growth of democratic politics in the Middle East...read more

Product Description: Paperback: 240 pages Publisher: University of California Press; 2nd Edition edition (March 27, 1973) Language: English