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The relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia has always been a marriage of convenience, not affection. In a bargain cemented by President Roosevelt and Saudi Arabia's founding king in 1945, Americans gained access to Saudi oil, and the Saudis sent the dollars back with purchases of American planes, American weapons, American construction projects and American know-how that brought them modernization, education and security. The marriage has suited both sides. But how long can it last? In Inside the Mirage , veteran Middle East journalist Thomas W. Lippman shows that behind the official proclamations of friendship and alliance lies a complex relationship that has often been strained by the mutual aversion of two very different societies. Today the U.S.-Saudi partnership faces its greatest challenge as younger Saudis less enamored of America rise to prominence and Americans, scorched by Saudi-based terrorism, question the value of their ties to the desert kingdom. With so much at stake for the entire, ever-volatile Middle East, this compelling and absolutely necessary account brings the light of new research onto the relationship between these two countries and the future of their partnership.
The relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia has always been a marriage of convenience, not affection. In a bargain cemented by President Roosevelt and Saudi Arabia's founding king in 1945, Americans gained access to Saudi oil, and the Saudis sent the dollars back with purchases of American planes, American weapons, American construction projects and American know-how that brought them modernization, education and security. The marriage has suited both sides. But how long can it last? In Inside the Mirage , veteran Middle East journalist Thomas W. Lippman shows that behind the official proclamations of friendship and alliance lies a complex relationship that has often been strained by the mutual aversion of two very different societies. Today the U.S.-Saudi partnership faces its greatest challenge as younger Saudis less enamored of America rise to prominence and Americans, scorched by Saudi-based terrorism, question the value of their ties to the desert kingdom. With so much at stake for the entire, ever-volatile Middle East, this compelling and absolutely necessary account brings the light of new research onto the relationship between these two countries and the future of their partnership.
Due to publisher restrictions the library cannot purchase additional copies of this title, and we apologize if there is a long waiting list. Be sure to check for other copies, because there may be other editions available.
Due to publisher restrictions the library cannot purchase additional copies of this title, and we apologize if there is a long waiting list. Be sure to check for other copies, because there may be other editions available.
Reviews-
January 5, 2004 With nearly two decades of experience writing about Saudi Arabia for the Washington Post as a Middle East bureau chief and national security correspondent, Lippman is as effective on today's street-level perspective as he is on a nearly century-long history of political and economic alliances between Saudis and Americans. While "Riyadh is just like Phoenix" on the surface, he proposes, Saudi Arabians have a radically different mindset that often includes resentment over what they perceive as American interference with their way of life. His insightful journalism points to a frayed relationship that may get worse before it gets better. B&w photos, 1 map not seen by PW . 40,000 first printing.
December 1, 2003 In this timely, engaging, and highly readable book, Lippman, adjunct scholar at the Middle East Institute in Washington, DC, and once head of the Washington Post's Middle East bureau, demystifies the puzzle of U.S.-Saudi relations. The long history of America's relationship with Saudi Arabia is multifaceted and complex. Various U.S. administrations have been intimately involved with the Saudi Arabian government for over half a century. Yet few Americans have an understanding of the nature and development of U.S.-Saudi ties. Relying on his many years of covering the Middle East and traveling in the region, Lippman provides a panorama of the issues that have shaped the contours of American-Saudi relations. The book places this relationship in the context of Saudi culture and social norms and explains in lively fashion the interrelationship between domestic and foreign policy in Washington's relations with Riyadh. In a concluding chapter, the author provides an interesting picture of the strained relations between the two traditional allies in the aftermath of the September 11 tragedies. Highly recommended for all public libraries.-Nader Entessar, Spring Hill Coll., Mobile, AL
Copyright 2003 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
February 1, 2004 The House of Saud has, ever since its patriarch Abdul Aziz ibn Saud named Arabia after himself in 1932, depended on the U.S. for industrial, financial, and military expertise. But with the relationship now visibly strained, its 70-year existence bears the review that Lippman's survey provides. The author, a former " Washington Post" journalist now ensconced at a Beltway think tank, describes Ibn Saud's invitation of Americans to his country, the ensuing establishment of the fabled oil consortium Aramco, and the quasi-governmental functions this and other entities, such as the Ford Foundation, performed in Saudi Arabia. Hundreds of thousands of Americans have worked and lived there; their experiences dominate the incidents Lippman relates, which he frames in terms of a modern culture clash with Wahhabism, the fundamentalist Islam that the Saudis enforce. American readers contemplating a spell of work in the kingdom would positively benefit from Lippman's tour of their predecessors' history there, although the oil politics that underlie the U.S.-Saudi link are not probed.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2004, American Library Association.)
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Bahrain, Egypt, Hong Kong, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the Sudan, the Syrian Arab Republic, Tunisia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen
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