Myths, Illusions, & Peace; Finding a New Direction for America in the Middle East
Christopher Brand (Jacket illustration) New York: Viking, 2009. First printing [stated]. Hardcover. xiv, [2], 366,m [2] pages. Inscribed on the title page by David Makovsky. Inscription reads To Dede Thanks for your involvement. I hope you find the book to be interesting and useful. Best Wishes David Makovsky 5/12/10. Includes Preface, Acknowledgments, Notes, Index, Introduction, and Overview. Also includes chapters on Linkage and the Peace Process; Engagement; and Values and Interests. From Wikipedia: "David Makovsky, born June 21, 1960, is the Ziegler distinguished fellow and director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy Project on the Middle East Peace Process. In addition, he is an adjunct lecturer at Johns Hopkins University's Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), in the Middle Eastern studies program. He is the coauthor of the book Myths, Illusions, & Peace with senior White House advisor Dennis Ross. Mr. Makovsky's commentary on U.S. policy towards the Middle East and Middle East Peace Process appears on the PBS NewsHour with Jim Lehrer. His writing also writings can be found in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Foreign Affairs, among other places." Ambassador Dennis Ross is counselor and William Davidson Distinguished Fellow at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Prior to returning to the Institute in 2011, he served two years as special assistant to President Obama and National Security Council senior director for the Central Region, and a year as special advisor to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. The last decade has witnessed the slow growth of an Iranian nuclear program despite U.S. efforts to curtail it, the tragic failure of the Oslo Accords, the second intifada, and devastating wars fought between Israel and Hamas and Hizbollah. Meanwhile, the Iraq war has cost thousands of American lives and hundreds of billions of dollars, while peace remains elusive. Why has the United States consistently failed to achieve its strategic goals in the Middle East? According to Dennis Ross and policy analyst David Makovsky, it is because we have repeatedly fallen prey to dangerous myths about the region, myths with roots that reach back decades, yet which persist today. Collectively, these have produced years' worth of misguided American thinking about the Middle East, leading to countless missed opportunities and the bitterness born of too many failed policies. Among the mythologies that the authors reveal to be false and dangerous is the idea that Iran's religious leadership is immune from diplomatic, economic, and other forms of pressure; that Israeli-Palestinian peace is the key to solving all of the Middle East's problems; and that regime change is a prerequisite for peace and democracy. Ross and Makovsky debunk these damaging fallacies, held variously by those on the right and the left, and present a concise and far-reaching set of principles that will help America set an effective course of action in the region. They show how the path to real progress in the region will be opened only by clearheaded thinking that rejects easy assumptions and embraces the hard work of diplomacy. Condition: Very good / Very good.
Keywords: Middle East, Neoconservatives, Peace Process, Rogue Regime, Iran, Diplomacy, Radicalism, Democracy, U.S.-Israeli, Deterrence, Hamas, Hizbollah, Nuclear Weapons, Palestinians, Anwar Sadat
ISBN: 9780670020898
[Book #81737]
Price: $50.00