The United States in the Middle East: Interests and Obstacles

By Seth P. Tillman

"For an understanding of America's role in the Middle East in the past decade this is the best book available: informed, carefully documented, objective. It does not dodge the tough questions." --Foreign Affairs "Dr. Tillman's book is a book for all seasons in the Middle East, good and bad, and it is to be commended to any student interested in the region. The key policy debates relating to the Arab-Israeli conflicts which we confront today and are likely to have to cope with for some time are all discussed." --Middle East Journal "A very important book, published at a crucial juncture on a most significant topic--U.S. foreign policy toward the Arab-Israeli conflict... uniquely useful.... " --Choice "... it sets a standard that subsequent treatises will have to corroborate or contest." --Journal of Palestine Studies

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0253361729
• ISBN13: 9780253361721
• Release Date: June 1982
• Publisher: Indiana University Press
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 1.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.5" x 1.5" x 6.5"

Customer Reviews

Important Study

Seth Tillman's 'The US in the Middle East' is practically one of the most important works on the subject in the entire literature, yet it is almost completely ignored today. Tillman breaks down the PLO's moves towards accepting a political settlement with Israel along the lines of UN Resolution 242 and pairs it with Israel's refusal to negotiate. Tillman documents the Palestine National Council in Cairo March 1977, "calling for the establishment of a Palestinian state in part of the territory of Palestine, accepting the principle of partition without the qualification that had been attached to the resolution of June, 1974, which stated 'permanent and just peace' could only come with self-determination for the Palestinian people 'on the whole of the soil of their homeland.'" (213). Tillman scrupulously documents the PLO's moves to accepting Israel within its pre-war borders and reveals how Israel's refusal to comply with international law consistently relies on heavy diplomatic and fiscal support from the US. An extremely important study.