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Heroic Diplomacy: Sadat, Kissinger, Carter, Begin and the Quest for Arab-Israeli Peace

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As a student at Emory University, I had the unique pleasure of taking a course on the history of the modern Middle East with Kenneth W. Stein. As I learned in the classroom and later when I was finally able to read Heroic Diplomacy, Stein is indeed an expert in the complex and intricate field of Arab-Israeli conflict and in the confusing nature of the peace negotiations. In his classroom, I began to understand the conflicting goals of the major players in the region, and to appreciate the crucial role of Arab, Israeli and outside leadership in elucidating and beginning to resolve these issues. Heroic Diplomacy masterfully expounds upon these themes through a detailed account beginning with the October War of 1973, and continuing through the subsequent negotiations that ultimately led to the Camp David Accords and the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty.

This book is especially unique and important in that it draws from interviews with over eighty participants in the actual military and political negotiations between Egypt and Israel. The author conducted personal interviews with prominent leaders in the peace process, ranging from U.S. President Jimmy Carter to Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir and Jordan's King Hussein. Stein thoroughly examines the issues and sacrifices that the leaders confronted, particularly through his detailed discussions of Sadat, Kissinger, Carter and Begin.

But perhaps even more interesting, the book chronicles many of the intricacies of the negotiations through interviews with low-level career diplomats, foreign service officers and statesmen. These individuals, as Stein discusses in his introduction, have virtually become the archive of the Arab-Israeli peace process. Since few if any of them have written personal memoirs of the small portion of history they affected, Heroic Diplomacy might be the only account that will remain from their contribution to Arab-Israeli diplomacy. Information obtained from these interviews, combined with the insights gained from his discussions with world leaders, fills the book with a fascinating and timely history of this particularly contentious period.

Heroic Diplomacy is a critically important contribution to any understanding of the Arab-Israeli peace process. Stein confronts a complex and often emotional question: how could Egypt and Israel, two nations that seemed utterly opposed to one another, shock the world by signing the Camp David Peace Accords in 1978? This historical account of the negotiations answers that question in great detail. Further, the book is written in a clear and engaging way, and can be appreciated regardless of whether or not one is already a scholar of the Middle East.

I feel fortunate to have shared the classroom with Dr. Stein, and this book is a testament to his knowledge and expertise. As such, Heroic Diplomacy is crucial for anyone interested in the Arab-Israeli conflict. And for those less fortunate, who have not been able to spend substantial time studying with the author, it is a must-read.