A new history of Henry Kissinger's diplomatic negotiations in the Middle East that illuminates the unique challenges and barriers Kissinger and his successors have faced in their attempts to broker peace between Israel and its Arab neighbors.
The strongest case for Kissinger’s heroism is found in his Middle East diplomacy, chronicled in fascinating day-by-day detail by Indyk ... Chronicling many of the twists and turns in Kissinger’s breathtaking diplomacy, Martin Indyk is in awe of the man ... When Indyk analyzes the obstacles that Kissinger overcame, he knows of what he speaks ... draws on his experiences as well as extensive research in American and Israeli archives. Most of all, Indyk captures the unique intensity of diplomacy in this region, where every gesture is treated with suspicion, and every concession is a matter of life or death.
Martin Indyk has written a fascinating, comprehensive and detailed study of what may be Kissinger’s most decisive and important achievement ... What really sets this book apart from other academic studies is that Indyk is a very unusual historian. In carrying out the traditional archival research in the United States and Israel, mastering the memoir and secondary literature, and conducting interviews with surviving participants, Indyk provides a precise rendering and a literal day-to-day account of Kissinger’s diplomacy in the region ... Some critics have argued that Indyk’s book is overly generous ... This critique is unfair and shortsighted ... the survival and success of Israel should be seen as one of the genuine historic accomplishments of an enlightened American diplomacy, and as Indyk makes clear, Kissinger deserves a great deal of the credit.
... lucidly conceived and compellingly written ... much more than a tale of long-ago diplomatic tussles in a faraway place. The issues surrounding Mr. Kissinger’s approach to foreign policy remain current, and Mr. Indyk brings to the task of examining them his years of diplomatic experience in the Clinton and Obama administrations. His book deserves careful attention ... illustrates the struggle between the transformative ambitions of Democratic activists and their qualms about the use of American power that will likely shape the course of the Biden administration ... One hopes to see other aspects of this period receive equally careful treatment.
