MYTHS, ILLUSIONS, & PEACE

Archive for the ‘References to the book’ Category

Myths, Illusions, & Peace is the subject of an insightful new review entitled “What the US Can and Can’t Do in the Middle East” by Shlomo Avineri, one of Israel’s foremost political scientists and a professor at Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The review has been released in the first issue of a brand new quarterly, the Jewish Review of Books.

Here’s an excerpt from the review:

The scope of American power, in the Middle East or anywhere else, depends on circumstances and local conditions. Yet Washington policy wonks all too often tend to overlook this uncomfortable fact, viewing situations exclusively from inside the Beltway.

Throughout the many decades of US involvement in the Middle East, there is a pattern of success as well as failure, and it is this pattern that constitutes the backdrop to the knowledgeable and timely new book by Dennis Ross and David Makovsky—the one a veteran of Mideast peace negotiations under several American presidents, the other a seasoned journalist and analyst.

The United States has been and can be extremely powerful and helpful when either of the following scenarios unfolds: 1) a shooting war erupts and threatens to unleash dire regional or even global consequences or 2) the contending parties have already made, on their own, significant steps towards reaching an agreement but still need a helpful push from the outside. In the first case, the US can function as an effective firefighter and bring about a cessation of hostilities. In the second, it can act as a midwife and help clinch the deal.

An extensive article published in the Jerusalem Post this weekend examined David Makovsky’s thoughts on the Middle East and the peace process as it stands today. It also looks at the themes and impact of Myths, Illusions, & Peace. Here’s a quote from the article:

Seizing the moment
by Haviv Rettig Gur

Myths, Illusions and Peace is at its core an argument against the theory that has been popular for many years among Arabists and policy wonks in Washington, one repeated by too many Arab leaders to ignore: That the Middle East’s deep and abiding tensions draw much of their energy from the conflict with Israel, and specifically the unfair fight between Israel and the Palestinians.

This argument has profound ramifications for policymaking. Linkage can harm peace, as in the initial reluctance of the Carter administration to help launch the Israeli-Egyptian peace process because they were not convinced that Sadat’s idea to break with the Arab consensus could work.

Author David Makovsky Talks About His Book Myths, Illusions, and Peace: Finding a new Direction for America in the Middle East

Author and analyst David Makovsky speaks with host Carol Castiel and VOA correspondent Meredith Buel about his new book Myths, Illusions, and Peace: Finding a new Direction for America in the Middle East. Drawing on more than 25 years of combined experience, he and co-author Dennis Ross, veteran peace negotiator under Presidents George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton, critique assumptions that have guided policy for the past 60 years and recommend a fresh approach based on realities of the region.

Airdate: 10 Oct 2009