The Much Too Promised Land: America's Elusive Search for Arab-Israeli Peace

by Aaron David Miller

book data

30 ratings, 3.47 average rating, 8 reviews (more data...)

rating	frequency	%
5		6%
4		36%
3		53%
2		3%
1		0%

edit

published

March 25th 2008 by Bantam

binding

Hardcover, 416 pages

isbn

0553804901 (isbn13: 9780553804904)

description

For nearly twenty years, Aaron David Miller has played a central role in U.S. efforts to broker Arab-Israeli peace. His position as an advisor to pres...more

find at: Amazon | Half.com | Barnes & Noble | Abebooks | compare prices…

new topic
discuss this book

There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Be the first to start one »

friend reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

lists with this book

This book is currently not featured on any Listopia lists. Add this book to your favorite list »

other reviews (showing 1-20 of 90)

sort: default (?) | date
filters: all | text-only

02/18/09

Lauren rated it:

A wowably infomative and comprehensive look at the efforts to make peace between Israel and Palestine with a very personal flavor.But damn! Miller was dropping names like a shetetl pissing in high cotton (he also dropped COMPLICATED, NON-SENSICAL metaphors like a bullfrog scraping its balls on the ground) so sometimes I felt out of the loop, or that I should have read "The Dummies Guide to the Middle East" first. In fact, I went out right away and BOUGHT "The Dummies Guide to the ...more A wowably infomative and comprehensive look at the efforts to make peace between Israel and Palestine with a very personal flavor.But damn! Miller was dropping names like a shetetl pissing in high cotton (he also dropped COMPLICATED, NON-SENSICAL metaphors like a bullfrog scraping its balls on the ground) so sometimes I felt out of the loop, or that I should have read "The Dummies Guide to the Middle East" first. In fact, I went out right away and BOUGHT "The Dummies Guide to the Middle East." So I will be reading that soon, and hopefully lots of the people, places and dates will make more sense to me. Also, the Dummies guide has maps.

My favorite parts of this book were probably in comparing American leader's successes and failures in facilitating peace -- from Kissinger and Carter to Clinton and Bush. Most of this stuff I did not know, and understanding America's exact role in everything kind of makes the whole-world make more sense to me.

I do not understand, however, why every political book I read is jammed with metaphorical Dr. Phil-isms, most of them so far removed from the context or what I think they are actually trying to say, that I would sometimes become more confused. I'm sure they make sense to politicians or people invoved, but to me, "dead cat diplomacy" means nothing. Below I have listed some more funny metaphors, that I found in literally 5 minutes scanning through the pages when I was done. (You may think that these would make sense to you if you were reading them in context, but trust me, you'd probably be wrong.):

-"If a bullfrog had wings, it wouldn't scrap its balls on the ground"
-The odds in America's Arab-Isreali diplomacy were not much better than batting a .400 in major-league season.
-The Saudis "could fuck up a two-car funeral"
-"Kissinger wandering around here like a rug merchant in order to bargain over a hundred or two hundred meters."
-"In the end we're really just a shetetl with nukes."
-"Using incentives or disincentives was like punching a bowl of Jell-O." (Punching Jell-O? Or the bowl?)
-"Shoot the dead dog and leave him on the front lawn and these guys are going to be saying 'that's going to happen to me too.' "
-"Pissing in high cotton"

?? Worrrrrrrd.(less)

Like this review? yes (1 person liked it)

add a comment

07/15/08

Alan rated it:

Read in July, 2008

Part memoir, part history, part journalism, this book by a veteran Arab-Israeli peace negotiator should appeal to Mideast junkies who still believe in the "peace process."
A disclaimer: I covered many of these same events as State Dept. correspondent for Reuters from 1989-94. I was present at some of the events Miller describes; I traveled with Secretaries Baker and Christopher. I even interviewed Miller himself on background a number of times. (He seemed to like chatting to repo...more Part memoir, part history, part journalism, this book by a veteran Arab-Israeli peace negotiator should appeal to Mideast junkies who still believe in the "peace process."
A disclaimer: I covered many of these same events as State Dept. correspondent for Reuters from 1989-94. I was present at some of the events Miller describes; I traveled with Secretaries Baker and Christopher. I even interviewed Miller himself on background a number of times. (He seemed to like chatting to reporters on background but he rarely revealed anything new or interesting). For more on me, go to www.alanelsner.com.
As stated, this book is an uncertain mix of different genres. The personal memoirs I found the most interesting. I wish there were more of these. I'm interested in the various characters Miller dealt with -- Rabin, Peres, Arafat, King Hussein, Presidents Mubarak and Assad. I'm interested in what went on behind the closed doors because I already know what emerged on the public record (I covered a lot of it). Unfortunately, Miller remains coy and discreet. He was never one to give much away and he apparently hasn't changed.
The history in which Miller analyzes the successful Middle East negotiations conducted by Kissinger and President Carter one can basically read elsewhere.
The journalism -- he interviewed many of the key players, is somewhat interesting. But all these actors have a deep interest in presenting events to their best advantage and Miller doesn't really challenge them.
His chapter of the power of the American-Jewish lobby and the fundamentalist Christian-Zionist lobby contained little new.
I picked up a couple of points I disagreed with: Miller claims the Madrid Peace Conference came as a big shock to the press. Not so. The only surprise was the venue. We'd all assumed the conference would be in Lausanne and had already booked hotel rooms.
Miller's account of Baker's trip to see the Kurdish refugees created after the first Gulf War conveniently leaves out the fact that these million plus refugees had fled their homes after the United States allowed Saddam Hussein to crush their revolt -- which they launched at the urging of President Bush.
The true hero of this book for Miller is Jim Baker who I agree was a successful Secretary of State who used the favorable circumstances he was presented with to achieve some modest progress on the Middle East. (Baker and Bush did less well on anticipating Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait or the war in former Yugoslavia).
Miller gives relatively low marks to Clinton who got too bogged down in the details of the negotiations, leaned too far toward Israel and committed to an ill-prepared summit at Camp David that was always destined to fail. Miller loved Rabin, had little time for Netanyahu and is scathing about Barak. He is harsh, but not sufficiently so, about Arafat.
After all the failures and frustrations, Miller is still a true believer. He still believes in the possibility of peace between Israel and the Palestinians and lays out some conditions for that to happen. There may have been some hope in the 1990s (although I personally doubt that Arafat was ever ready to make peace with Israel) but it seems quixotic to hope for much today with Hamas ruling Gaza, the Iranian-backed Hizbollah controlling Lebanon and U.S. prestige so far eroded after eight years of Bush.
This book is recommended for those who already know a lot about the Middle East but would like to know a little about what it was like to be in the middle of those negotiations.
But it falls a little short in my view of what it could have been.(less)

Like this review? yes

add a comment

07/07/08

Jon rated it:

Read in July, 2008

Despite being excessively anecdotal and meandering at times, Miller's book is useful and interesting on several accounts. First, he provides one of the best available outlines of the history of America's role in Arab-Israeli peace processes, especially the Carter-Sadat-Begin Camp David negotiations, as well as the Baker-Arafat-Rabin Madrid and Oslo processes. Second, he details his personal role in the recent and ongoing roles in the frustrated Wye River and Camp David negotiations between Clint...more

Like this review? yes

add a comment

05/23/09

Melissa rated it:

Read in June, 2009

Terrific book that substitutes depth and nuance for the more traditional hyperbole of books on the Middle East. Miller's third chapter on "Israel's Lawyers" is a frank examination of Israeli and domestic Jewish influence on U.S. government policy without the bombast of Mearsheimer and Walt. His chapter on the failure of the 2000 Camp David summit casts blame all around - including on himself - and exposes the myth, popular in America, that Arafat caused the failure.

Like this review? yes

add a comment

10/29/08

Ray rated it:

(review of other edition)

Read in October, 2008

The Author, Aaron David Miller, has extensive experience with Mid-East peace negotiations over the years with various U.S. administrations. He describes the atitudes and approaches of past Presidents and Secretaries of State, Arafat, and various Israeli leaders in peace negotiations over the years. He also discusses some of the more subtle influences on U.S. policy, including the effectiveness and significant impact of the Israel Lobby influencing congressional lawmakers, and the lack of an ef...more

Like this review? yes

add a comment

01/25/09

Al rated it:

If I had to pick one guy to explain the historical American point of view regarding this topic, this would be the guy.

Like this review? yes

add a comment

12/06/07

Clyde rated it:

bookshelves: environment-global-warming--oil-etc

This is what I am currently reading. I could never make it in the diplomatic corps of ANY country. Personally, I have a great difficulty in rewarding peoples peace and appeasement for bad behavior. That pretty much was the message coming from Aaron David Miller. Stay tuned, I will have a full book review in the near future.

Like this review? yes

add a comment

08/25/08

Esther rated it:

Very good history of American's involvement in the Arab-Israeli conflict. Includes interviews with Henry Kissinger, Jimmy Carter, James Baker, Bill Clinton. Miller also offers prescriptions for what a new President and administration should be focused on.

Like this review? yes

add a comment