Rating: 
Summary: Stringently partisan, but well worth reading
Review: Although I disagree with Professor Khalidi on a number of points, I want to make it clear at the outset that this is an excellent book, very well-written and edited, and driven with the sort of restrained passion that makes for a most interesting read. His command of the modern history of the Middle East is admirable and obvious.But Khalidi is not a disinterested observer by any stretch of the imagination. He has an agenda, that of laying the blame for the backwardness of the Middle East at the doorstep of the West while championing the cause of the Islamic people of the region. He is especially passionate when presenting the case for the Palestinians. His outrage at the historical record of a brutal, exploitive, and hypocritical colonialism (was there any other kind?) by the West, especially Great Britain and France, fairly singes the pages. His disgust at the stupidity, mendacity, and narrow-mindedness of the current Bush administration is palpable. What Khalidi does not do very well is offer the sort of forward-looking, balanced, and dispassionate critique that would lead to a solution to the trouble in the Middle East. He offers a first step toward a solution to the problem in Iraq, namely that of a multilaterally-guided transition to a sovereign Iraq as opposed to the current bilateralism of the United States and Great Britain. Along the way he points out that it was the Western powers who concocted the artificial Iraqi state in the first place, and it was the Cold War US government that supported Saddam Hussein and helped him to brutalize the Iraqi people. However he does not offer specifics on how a recurrence of a Baathist-like dictatorship, or a civil war, or a Shiite theocracy (or all three in succession) can be avoided after the Western powers leave. Furthermore in the seething chapter on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict he offers no solution at all, merely a call for "real" negotiations toward a solution, with the implication that the solution he has in mind is not for public consumption. The very title of his chapter, "The United States and Palestine" hints at his attitude toward Israel and what his solution might be. What Khalidi does not see (and in his way is as blind as the neocons in the White House) is that the United States and Israel and others have their interests as well. It is one thing to cite history and its inequities; it is another thing to realize that regardless of the mistakes made in the past, we have the present to deal with, and that any solution in the Middle East will require that the interests of people alive today be acknowledged and taken into consideration. Just as a military "victory" over Saddam Hussein is no solution to the problems the Iraqi people and the region face, neither is any "shut up and go home" solution going to work for the rest of the world. Certainly the US is not going to allow Israel to be overrun, nor are we, rightly or wrongly, going to sit by quietly while an Iran-like theocracy bent on acquiring nuclear weapons and exporting its Islamic rule, mushrooms out of the debris in Iraq. It is not just realpolitik but realism itself that dictates that the world cannot allow an unbridled Islamic radicalism of the sort that exists in Iran, or even worse, of the sort that had taken over Afghanistan, to expand. Khalidi argues strongly that the US hasn't paid sufficient attention to "the region's political dynamics" or given the "Middle Eastern realities" the seriousness they deserve (p. 165). I think he's right; however the same could be said about his non-awareness of the global realities. For all his learnedness and his sharply candid expression, unfortunately I see in Khalidi's overall tone and approach the partisan politician more than I see the historian or the political scientist. Typical is this from page 172 (and elsewhere): "Iraqis and others in the Middle East have a strong sense of history." (And other people don't?) This vague and superior sound-byte pronouncement from on high reminds me unhappily of what politicians in the US are fond of doing, that is, telling us what "the American people" think. Carrying this historical burden (that Khalidi seems to think the Iraqi people are especially saddled with) to an absurdity (still on page 172), he objects to what he sees as "a symbolic contingent of Mongolian soldiers" as part of the US-led coalition in Iraq. He believes their presence may provoke "vividly the history of earlier occupations of Baghdad, such as that in 1258 when it was sacked by the Mongols"! Yes, that's 1258. Bottom line: partisan, passionate, even prejudicial, but very much worth reading.
Rating: 
Summary: Stongly recommended history from colonial to contemporary
Review: An excellent history from precolonial to contemporary relations. Does not create a "faux Islam" purported to explain things like the Orientalists, Lewis, Huntington. Does not argue from Zionist presumptions while recognizing a fait accompli of Israeli aggression to a point.
Useful, even necessary, balance for those spoon fed by the mainstream media and phoney 'pundits' (Khalidi has choice examples of their sometimes absurd incompetence). Masterly use of history and historical analysis rather than ideolgy or neoCon fictions to explain the present predicament.
Not excusing locals for appalling politics in the Middle East he recognizes a not inconsiderable Western role that has disrupted and skewed developments. Readers need to know this reality or they will be mislead by ideologues whether Bush, NeoCon, Zionist, or any other brand of Fundamentalist claptrap including those 'preaching' a World War IV and unending war on terrorism.
Rating:
Summary: Very Informative
Review: An exceptionally well-written book. Khalidi describes with clarity and vivid detail, the real reasons behind the never-ending conflict between the U.S. and the Middle East. Thank you Professor Khalidi for writing this book!
Rating:
Summary: Thoughtful, sensitive and knowledgeable work
Review: As an American from Turkey, I am impressed with Prof. Khalidi's depth of understanding of Iraq and Middle East, and, of course, our country's not so successful relationship with Middle East. It is easy to hurl insults by some Americans to all that is not American (see the comments by a reviewer from Chicago below) but we have previously experienced our "imperialistic" tendencies in Vietnam when we're not clear about our reasons for being there. We left after terrible sacrifices and, behold, Vietnam turned out to be a friend down the road. No thanks to us, they are doing fine as an independent country. Prof. Khalidi brings a similar sensitivity to our goals, methods and end games in Iraq and the rest of the Middle East. His approach is refreshing, honest, clear and doable. Bush administration may not like the objective outside voices but most administrations do not. This isn't the time to be pig-headed but to be level-headed and extremely clear. Prof. K. brings that thoughtfulness. Those who'd like to "nuke" any country who doesn't do what we tell it, will not like this book.
Rating:
Summary: Saw the interview on Charlie Rose
Review: During the Charlie Rose interview, Rashid Khalidi simply and clearly described why the USA has tripped up in Iraq and in the Middle East for the last 50 years. This book goes into more depth and outlines alternative actions that can still be adopted and that can help to return good favor toward the USA. The previous "reviewer" forgets to mention that the US policy the the Middle East for the last 50 years has been to tacitly support unjust Middle Easterm regimes. Unfortunately, the only thing that President Bush has succeeded in doing since his attack of Iraq is to dramatically increase the number of people killed in Iraq, spend over 100 billion dollars of money that would have gone a long way to "leave no child behind" and turn worldwide opinion of the US into something previously held for Stalinist-era Soviet Union. Rashid Khalidi's book is important reading for anyone who does not want to repeat more of history's mistakes.
Rating:
Summary: A helpful book for laymen seeking to understand the region
Review: Echoing an earlier review, it is certainly true that Khalidi has his own agenda in place, but I found his book to be relatively even-handed. Compare him to his mentor Edward Said, who never met a sweeping generalization that he would not try to shoehorn into whatever thesis he was presenting. For example, take the role of Great Britain in the Middle East; Said was prepared to lay all the sins in the calendar at the doorstep of the Brits, while Khalidi actually compliments the British specialists at one point for having a more realistic appraisal of the region. (pp. 160-161) Overall, I found Khalidi to be fairly disciplined in his approach, which kept this book from becoming too much of a polemic.
One of the characteristics of a polemic is offering easy solutions to all problems. Khalidi does not pretend to have answers to the Iraq problem, or even the Palestinian problem, which can either open him up to criticism or praise, depending on one's perspective. The gist of his argument is that the current policies & approaches are clearly not working, and have not been working for a considerable amount of time, so why continue stubbornly to use them in the future? As Khalidi states regarding the assorted disputes in the region, "while resolving these disputes will not automatically bring democracy, failing to resolve them, allowing them to fester, or making them worse virtually guarantees the constan creation of new obstacles to democratization and respect for human rights." (p. 71)
Khalidi is quite upfront when he states that this is not a book for specialists, who should probably know everything that he is discussing already. Rather, it is more of a primer intended for the public in general which may not know or recall the history of the region. For example, anyone who was not an adult before about 1980 may not be aware that the US took a largely neutral position regarding Israel & the Palestinians, and opposed overtly aggressive acts by former colonial powers (Britain & France) in the region, most notably with the Suez Crisis of 1956. He also helps educate the public when he demonstrates how spectacularly ignorant key members of the Bush administration were regarding the region, as when they weighed the prospects of installing a member of the Hashemite royal family as the puppet ruler of Iraq (pp.51-52).
If the current administration is genuine in its desire to bring democracy to the region --- and Khalidi is obviously skeptical about this --- the anyone who was not already familiar with the region's history should be questioning both the administration's judgement and motives after reading this book. Those who strongly support an Israeli or neoconservative agenda will obviously have nothing good to say about this book (as evidenced by a few of the reviews here), but this book was not in any way intended for that particular audience. Khalidi understands that the public at large can only form opinions based on the information it is given, and the public is not comprised primarily of Middle East specialists. Khalidi obviously hopes to impart information that will better educate the public, and he does a good job of it with this well-written & cogently presented book.
Rating: 
Summary: Charlie Rose Redux
Review: I too saw the Charlie Rose interview and yes, I'm ONLY a Canadian but consider myself pretty well-read on events in Iraq. I'm afraid I couldn't disagree more about the Bush administration's intentions in that part of the world. It's been well-proven now that Saddam, while a Very Bad Man, was not a threat to America, no longer had the WMD's (most of which were sold to him by the US in the 80's), no nuclear program, no Al Qaeda ties, etc, etc, etc Yes, he did torture prisoners, but....oh, wait - forget it.... I thought Khalidi was very well-spoken, presented his argument without the histrionics frequently heard from the right (Hannity, O'Reilly, et al.). I hope a lot of people saw that interview -- I can sense that Americans are very much waking up to the danger's of the Bush "foreign policy", and are seeing more and more clearly now that only a change in the White House can alter the terrible course of events in the Mid East.... Good luck America, we're rooting for you -- get GWB out of there!
Rating: 
Summary: Saw the Charlie Rose interview, read the book too
Review: I was inspired to buy and read this book after watching the Charlie Rose interview with Mr. Khalidi. (Someone else watched the interview and posted a comment here, but I suspect they didn't actually read the book.) One *has* to listen to what Mr. Khalidi has to say. He has travelled extensively in the Middle East, I believe he speaks the language, has relatives there, and has spent the greater part of his adult life studying the history and culture of the region. He is also no stranger to American history, culture and politics. You may not like him or his opinions, but very few of us are more qualified to comment on the interactions between the two cultures than he is. That said, one must really want to read this book to finish it. A review on the jacket described the book as "accessible" - I respectfully disagree. Khalidi is an academic, and the writing style reflects this. Every sentence runs on and on, with multiple digressions and clarifications. Near the end of the book, I found I could comprehend more by reading the first part of a sentence, then skipping to the end to find the closing. A lot of readable and interesting material has been relegated to 'notes' at the end of the book. A few simple maps and diagrams would have helped a lot. I was left with the impression that the book was hastily written and rushed to press with little editing. I don't think it met its objective of getting facts about the Iraq war to the masses. I personally had a difficult time finding a coherent message - I could not tell anyone what I read, just a day after finishing it. I think if the material were rewritten in a more "accessible" style and more carefully organized to convey one or two key messages, it would probably make a very good feature article in something like New Yorker magazine, rather than a whole book.
Rating:
Summary: Saw the Charlie Rose interview, read the book too
Review: I was inspired to buy and read this book after watching the Charlie Rose interview with Mr. Khalidi. (Someone else watched the interview and posted a comment here, but I suspect they didn't actually read the book.) One *has* to listen to what Mr. Khalidi has to say. He has travelled extensively in the Middle East, I believe he speaks the language, has relatives there, and has spent the greater part of his adult life studying the history and culture of the region. He is also no stranger to American history, culture and politics. You may not like him or his opinions, but very few of us are more qualified to comment on the interactions between the two cultures than he is. That said, one must really want to read this book to finish it. A review on the jacket described the book as "accessible" - I respectfully disagree. Khalidi is an academic, and the writing style reflects this. Every sentence runs on and on, with multiple digressions and clarifications. Near the end of the book, I found I could comprehend more by reading the first part of a sentence, then skipping to the end to find the closing. A lot of readable and interesting material has been relegated to 'notes' at the end of the book. A few simple maps and diagrams would have helped a lot. I was left with the impression that the book was hastily written and rushed to press with little editing. I don't think it met its objective of getting facts about the Iraq war to the masses. I personally had a difficult time finding a coherent message - I could not tell anyone what I read, just a day after finishing it. I think if the material were rewritten in a more "accessible" style and more carefully organized to convey one or two key messages, it would probably make a very good feature article in something like New Yorker magazine, rather than a whole book.
Rating: 
Summary: Garbage
Review: Khalidi admits that the United States and Israel are democracies, while many Arab nations are undemocratic. But, of course, to him, the United States and Israel are evil. After all, Israel permits Jews to have human rights. And the United States supports it!
Of course, there are some real questions about how the United States ought to use its power. We have great economic strength and pretty fair military strength. It's easy to force our neighbors to make deals that favor us. And it is a great idea for someone to give us some constructive advice and criticism.
This book is anything but that. It's part of the problem, not part of the solution.
Still, the existence of this book raises the issue of why it is that so many bright Arabs, both in and out of the academic world, have so much trouble coming up with honest assessments of reality. And I think the reason is that they are pressured into doing so by both other Arabs and by Westerners. In the past, many Arabs oppressed minorities as a matter of right. That wasn't nice, but it wasn't dishonest. In the past century, many in the West wanted to ally themselves with Arab states, but they had a problem: they could not support outright claims that oppression is good. So they basically told the Arabs to lie and to blame their victims. And a large number of Arabs have complied. It is a shame, because Arabs are just as good people as any others. It simply happens to be Arabs that have been put under so much pressure to be dishonest.
Anyway, this has created a situation in which it is almost de rigeur for many Arab academics to include some standard untruths in their descriptions of Israel and the West. And that means we're going to see plenty more books from Arabs with plenty of untruths in them. And plenty of academic dishonesty that will damage entire disciplines and universities. And plenty more one-star reviews by people such as me.
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