King Hussein of Jordan: A Political Life
Author: Nigel Ashton
A towering figure in the history of Jordan, King Hussein reigned for nearly half a century, from his grandfather’s assassination in 1953 to his own death in 1999. In this fascinating biography, Nigel Ashton recounts the eventful life of the king who not only survived but flourished amidst crisis after crisis as ruler of a poor desert nation surrounded by powerful and hostile neighbors. Hussein skillfully navigated complicated relationships with the British, his fellow Arab leaders, the new bordering state of Israel, masses of dispossessed Palestinians within his kingdom, every U.S. president from Eisenhower to Clinton, and every British prime minister from Churchill to Blair. This book illuminates the private man, his key relationships, and his achievements and disappointments as a central player in the tough world of Middle Eastern politics.
Ashton has had unique access to King Hussein’s private papers, including his secret correspondence with U.S., British, and Israeli leaders, and he has also conducted numerous interviews with members of Hussein’s circle and immediate family. The resulting book brings new depth to our understanding of the popular and canny king while also providing new information about the wars of 1967 and 1973, President Reagan’s role in the Iran-Contra affair, the evolution of the Middle East peace process, and much more.
Publishers Weekly
In this respectful and measured scholarly evaluation, Ashton (Kennedy, Macmillan and the Cold War) builds on unprecedented access to the late king's entire correspondence and more than two dozen interviews to lend valuable insight into how Hussein's shrewdness and empathy kept him politically (and literally) alive as well as casting light on many a foreign policy enigma-notably a confirmation that Ronald Regan personally authorized what became the Iran-Contra scandal. While Hussein's uneasy alliance with the socialist brand of Arab nationalism under Egypt's Nasser led him into "the greatest calamity of his reign," the 1967 Six-Day War with Israel, he remained "ever alert to the shifting power dynamics of the Arab world," often maintaining a precarious balance between the Western powers, the Arab states and Israelwhile wielding influence disproportionate to Jordan's relatively modest assets. Ashton reveals Hussein's longstanding covert contact with Israel and his clandestine communications with Israelis in the immediate aftermath of the 1967 warto suggest the possibilities and missed opportunities (including by the U.S.) for a peaceful settlement in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict-just one reason this book feels so timely and relevant. (Sept.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.Kirkus Reviews
A close analysis of the late Jordanian ruler, who walked a fine line in his efforts to promote peace in the Middle East. Ashton (International History/London School of Economics and Political Science; Kennedy, Macmillan and the Cold War: The Irony of Interdependence, 2002) writes from a scholarly point of view, complementing but not overshadowing Avi Shlaim's journalistic-and far more fluent-biography Lion of Jordan (2008). Indeed, both authors cover much of the same ground, though Ashton is less eager than Shlaim to blame the failure of peacemaking on Israeli intransigence. Instead, Ashton points to the endless complexity of regional politics, particularly in the quicksand of the Cold War, when Iraq, for instance, was alternately allied with Egypt, then Egypt's rival, then Saudi Arabia's friend, then Saudi Arabia's mortal enemy. King Hussein faced considerable opposition from his Hashemite cousins in Saudi Arabia (it did not help matters, in that regard, that the ruling Arab families of the region are related), some of whom argued that "the Jordanian branch of the Hashemite family was not fit to rule, and that the kingdom should have reverted to the Iraqi branch." In the years following the 1967 War, King Hussein made Jordan something of a buffer state between Saudi Arabia and Israel, requiring delicate negotiations and courting plenty of opposition, including several attempted military coups. By Ashton's account, though, some of his toughest opposition came from the American intelligence community, which had its own ideas about how to settle differences in the region. Compared to CIA Director Richard Helms, Israeli leader Moshe Dayan seemed an angel of reconciliation. It took sustainedeffort on the king's part to steer Jordan out of the gunsights when "his two former friends, Saddam Hussein and George Bush," went to war in 1991-an episode in which, Ashton reveals, Mikhail Gorbachev offered the Soviet Union as a back channel ally to the United States and Israel, which will come as news to many readers. Somewhat arid, but a policy wonk's dream, full of historical data and the implications for war and peace in the world's most volatile region.
Table of Contents:
Acknowledgements ixList of Illustrations xii
Introduction: A Contested Destiny 1
The Tragedy of King Talal 13
Breaking the British Connection, 1953-6 37
To Hold a Throne, 1956-7 54
A Dynasty under Threat, 1957-61 68
Arab Cold War and Detente, 1962-6 89
The Path to Disaster, 1966-7 105
Lost in a Sandstorm: Hussein and the Peace Process, 1967-8 121
'Seven Questions of Israel': The September 1970 Crisis 136
The October War 158
Disengagement and Disillusionment, 1973-7 179
The Camp David Disaster, 1977-9 193
The Iran-Iraq War, 1980-88 210
Fishing in the Dead Sea: King Hussein and the Peace Process, 1980-89 230
Between Iraq and a Hard Place: King Hussein and the Gulf Crisis, 1990-91 258
From Madrid to Oslo: King Hussein and the Peace Process, 1991-3 284
The Best of Enemies, the Best of Friends: Hussein, Rabin and the Jordanian-Israeli Peace Treaty 300
The Bitter Aftertaste of Peace 317
The Liberation of Iraq, 1995-7 336
A Destiny Fulfilled? 348
Select Bibliography 371
Notes 379
Index 421
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Upstream: The Ascendance of American Conservatism
Author: Alfred S Regnery
Alfred S. Regnery, the publisher of The American Spectator, has been a part of the American conservative movement since childhood, when his father founded The Henry Regnery Company, which subsequently became Regnery Publishing — the preeminent conservative publishing house that, among other notable achievements, published William F. Buckley's first book, God and Man at Yale. Including many uniquely personal anecdotes and stories, Regnery himself now boldly chronicles the development of the conservative movement from 1945 to the present.
The outpouring of grief at the funeral of Ronald Reagan in 2004 — and the acknowledgment that Reagan has come to be considered one of the greatest presidents of the twentieth century — is Regnery's opening for a fascinating insider story. Beginning at the start of the twentieth century, he shows how in the years prior to and just post World War II, expanding government power at home and the expanding Communist empire abroad inspired conservatives to band together to fight these threats. The founding of the National Review, the drive to nominate Barry Goldwater first as vice-president and later as president, the apparent defeat of the conservative movement at the hands of Lyndon Johnson, and the triumphant rise of Ronald Reagan from the ashes are all chronicled in vivid prose that shows a uniquely intimate knowledge of the key figures. Regnery shares his views on the opposition that formed in response to Earl Warren's Supreme Court rulings, the role of faith (both Roman Catholic and Evangelical) in the renewed vigor of conservatism, and the contributing role of American businessmen who attempted to oppose biggovernment.
Upstream ultimately gives perspective to how the most vibrant political and cultural force of our time has influenced American culture, politics, economics, foreign policy, and all institutions and sectors of American life.
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