Brookings Press Blog

Brookings Authors on Gaza, Iraq, and Pakistan

Experts offer commentary on foreign affairs

In addition to penning timely and important books, Brookings Press authors often provide expert analysis of current policy decisions and discussions. Here are three recent articles.

Tamara Cofman Wittes, author of Freedom’s Unsteady March, writes on YaleGlobal that the solution to the Israeli-Palestinian issue must combine the aspirations of Arab citizens with regional interest.

Michael O’Hanlon and Kenneth Pollack, who recently authored a chapter on Iraq in Restoring the Balance, discuss President Obama’s decision to withdraw American troops from that country in the New York Times.

Akbar Ahmed, author of Journey into Islam, explains why he believes that Obama must save Pakistan on The Huffington Post.

- Learn more about Freedom's Unsteady March

- Learn more about Restoring the Balance

- Learn more about Journey into Islam

One Sunday, Two Reviews in NYTBR

The Search for al Qaeda and Restoring the Balance reviewed 1/18

The January 18th issue of the New York Times Book Review includes reviews of The Search for Al Qaeda and Restoring the Balance. From the review of The Search for Al Qaeda by Bruce Riedel and The Duel by Tariq Ali:

The pros and cons of continuing or escalating the war in Afghanistan and Pakistan can be gleaned from two recent books, “The Search for Al Qaeda” by Bruce Riedel, a former C.I.A. analyst and adviser to three presidents, and “The Duel” by Tariq Ali. One thing they agree on—and which was underscored by the recent terrorist attacks in Mumbai—is that Pakistan is going to be at the forefront of foreign policy concerns for the Obama administration.

. . .

Riedel manages to distill the essence of Al Qaeda in just 150 pages. Among other things, he notes that the Islamic fundamentalists do not hate America’s values, only its policies.

. . .

Which man is right, which one wrong? Whatever the case, their books are a starting point for a much-needed debate.

From the review of Restoring the Balance by Richard Haass and Martin Indyk:

Beginning in July 2007, two of this country’s pre-eminent Middle East policy research institutions, both with close ties to the incoming administration, the Saban Center at the Brookings Institution and the Council on Foreign Relations, took the rare step of joining forces and asking 15 of their scholars to focus on the crucial challenges facing the next president. The results are collected in “Restoring the Balance,” a thoughtful and nicely structured collection of seven essays that examine the Iranian challenge and its many parts.

. . .

The Middle East is rich in awkward realities. Still, whether or not this plan will succeed, much of it will probably be attempted. In that sense, “Restoring the Balance” is a very useful and readable introduction to the thinking beyond the coming shift.

- Read "War Room Debate", the review including The Search for al Qaeda, by Ray Bonner

- Learn more about The Search for al Qaeda

- Read "Mission to Tehran", the review of Restoring the Balance, by Ethan Bronner

- Learn more about Restoring the Balance

Martin Indyk on Charlie Rose and Today Shows

Restoring the Balance will also have DC and NYC book launches

Martin Indyk, coauthor of Restoring the Balance: A Middle East Strategy for the Next President, will be appearing on the Charlie Rose show on Tuesday, December 2 and on NBC's Today Show Wednesday, December 3! On December 2 there will also be two major launch events for this new book: the Brookings Institution will host a launch event during the day in Washington, and the Council on Foreign Relations will host an event in New York later that evening.

Indyk was the Ambassador to Israel and assistant secretary of state for near east affairs during the Clinton Administration. He now directs the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at Brookings. Restoring the Balance will be available in bookstores shortly.

- Learn more about Restoring the Balance

Brookings and the Presidential Transition

Three new titles highlight the challenges facing the incoming administration

As supporters of Barack Obama celebrate their candidate’s historic victory, political observers and potential appointees are already turning their attention to questions of transition and governing. Three new titles from the Brookings Institution Press bring timely and expert analysis to bear on the changing political landscape and the immediate challenges facing the incoming administration. Each has garnered considerable attention already and should continue to do so.

• Stephen Hess, the nation’s most experienced expert on presidential transitions, is author of What Do We Do Now? A Workbook for the President-Elect. His book already has been positively reviewed in Library Journal and featured in U.S. News and World Report. What Do We Do Now? will be launched and excerpted as part of an ambitious Brookings-wide initiative on the presidential transition. On Thursday, November 6, Hess will appear on NPR’s Diane Rehm Show, Fox 5 DC morning news, and will also participate in a Washington Post on-line chat. The book will also be excerpted in tomorrow’s edition of Politico.

• Kurt Campbell and James Steinberg are the authors of Difficult Transitions: Foreign Policy Troubles at the Outset of Presidential Power. Drawing on decades of high-level government service and public policy experience, former presidential advisers Kurt Campbell and James Steinberg review past foreign policy episodes and identify the major pitfalls that a president-elect must try to avoid in the early days of an administration. Both authors are well known in policy circles — e.g Steinberg has been widely mentioned as a potential National Security Adviser. The book will be launched with fanfare on November 13 at the Center for a New American Security, a Washington think tank. The dust jacket includes endorsements from Brent Scowcroft, Richard Holbrooke, and Madeleine Albright.

• Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, and Martin Indyk, former US ambassador to Israel and current director of the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at Brookings, head up a stellar cast of authors on Restoring the Balance: A Middle East Strategy for the Next President. This is the first book to leverage fully the resources of these eminent foreign policy organizations. The goal is a new, nonpartisan strategy toward the tinderbox Middle East. The book will be rolled out in both New York and Washington with launch events on Tuesday, December 2, and it will receive a heavy publicity push from both institutions. It may ride the coattails of last week’s cover story in Newsweek, coauthored by Haass. Among the other authors are Steve Simon (coauthor of The Next Attack), Kenneth Pollack (A Path Out of the Desert), and Bruce Ridel (The Search for al Qaeda).

- Learn more about What Do We Do Now?.

- Learn more about Difficult Transitions.

- Learn more about Restoring the Balance.

The Search for al Qaeda Featured in Newsweek

John Barry interviews author Bruce Riedel

This latest issue of Newsweek features an interview with Bruce Riedel, author of The Search for al Qaeda: Its Leadership, Ideology, and Future:

Bruce Riedel was in the White House Situation Room on 9/11. For 30 years he was one of the CIA's senior analysts of the Middle East, rising to be a special assistant to the President on the National Security Council staff. Now he has written an analysis of Al Qaeda—and a critique of America's strategy in combating it. He outlined his concerns to NEWSWEEK's John Barry.

NEWSWEEK: Why this book now?
Bruce Riedel: I starting writing this book two years when I retired from CIA, because I think Al Qaeda is still the No. 1 threat to America; but there is still much that is misunderstood or not understood about the nature of that threat.

- Read the Newsweek article by John Barry, "How to Fight Al Qaeda Now: An Ex-CIA analyst talks about the terrorists’ power—and their vulnerabilities".

- Learn more about The Search for al Qaeda.

This Week in History

The Nuclear Bomb Is Born

On July 16, 1945, the top-secret Manhattan Project successfully tested the first atomic bomb in Alamorgodo, New Mexico.

On July 22, 1987, in a landmark decision, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev agreed to ban intermediate-range nuclear missiles. This decision paved the way for the groundbreaking Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty with the United States that effectively eliminated an entire class of nuclear weapons.

Take a moment to peruse these books about nuclear proliferation:

- Failed Diplomacy: The Tragic Story of How North Korea Got the Bomb, Charles Pritchard (Brookings, 2007)

- Beyond Preemption: Force and Legitimacy in a Changing World, Ivo H. Daalder, ed. (Brookings, 2007)

- Global Non-Proliferation and Counter-Terrorism: The Impact of UNSCR 1540, Olivia Bosch and Peter van Ham, eds. (Brookings, Chatham House, and the Clingendael Institute; 2006)

- U.S. Nuclear Weapons Policy: Confronting Today’s Threats, George Bunn and Christopher F. Chyba, eds. (Brookings and the Center for International Security and Cooperation, 2006)

- The Nuclear Tipping Point: Why States Reconsider Their Nuclear Choices, Kurt M. Campbell, Robert Einhorn, and Mitchell Reiss, eds. (Brookings, 2004).

(Image above is of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan on August 9, 1945)

Beyond Preemption

New book examines force and legitimacy in a changing world

America’s recent wars in Kosovo, Afghanistan, and Iraq have raised profound questions about military force: When is its use justifiable? For what purpose? Who should make the decision on whether to go to war?

Beyond Preemption, moves this debate forward with thoughtful discussion of what these guidelines should be and how they apply in the face of today’s most pressing geopolitical challenges: terrorism, WMD proliferation, and humanitarian emergencies. Brookings senior fellow Ivo Daalder and his colleagues draw on three years of crossnational dialogue with politicians, military officials and strategists, and international lawyers in presenting specific proposals on forging a new international consensus regarding preemption and the proper use of force in today’s world.

- Learn more about Beyond Preemption.