The Other Walls: The Arab-Israeli Peace Process in a Global Perspective - Revised Edition

by Harold H. Saunders

Book Overview

Drawing on intensive firsthand experience gained during the most successful years of Arab-Israeli peace negotiations, Harold Saunders explains the complexities of the peace process: it was not just a series of negotiated agreements but negotiation embedded in a larger political process. In the first edition of The Other Walls, Saunders argued persuasively that until leaders change the political environment by lowering the human and political barriers to peace, negotiators stand little chance. Now he places that focus on political process in the context of a new world--where familiar concepts of international relations no longer provide adequate explanations for events, and where the tools of statecraft do not produce expected results. In the wake of the Gulf War Saunders suggests how insights from earlier Arab-Israeli peace negotiations can lead to a broader regional process. Originally published in 1991. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0691023379
• ISBN13: 9780691023373
• Release Date: June 1991
• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.1" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Israel-Palestine Peace Process Perspective (1967-1980)

From the back-cover of THE OTHER WALLS: "Harold H. Saunders...participated in the mediation of five Arab-Israeli agreements at the height of the peace process, 1973-1979. He slew on the Kissinger shuttles and worked with Carter and Vance at Camp David and in negotiating the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty. He served on the National Security Council staff, 1961-1974." As commented upon by Philip Habib, another Middle East negotiator: "A book that is must reading for presidents, kings, prime ministers, their advisers, and all who are interested in the search for peace in the Middle East. It captures the essence of the psychological, political, and diplomatic elements that make up the peace process." Despite what one may think of Mr. Saunders views, these are his remembrances and perceptions. He discusses the peace efforts following the Six Day War (1967); analyses "Why Should a President Care"; talks about the development of a Palestinian `state', how to `approach' the Palestinians; can the 1967 `borders' be re-drawn; the role of the Superpowers; the Camp David agreement, Pres. Carter's efforts; Pres. Reagan's efforts. This isn't a minute-by-minute replay of "who offered what peace-negotiable tidbit when, and how everyone reacted to it." Instead, the author has amalgamated his experiences in offering his comprehensive analysis in suggesting how -- through his "framework" outline -- a `settlement' between these two peoples can be birthed. Reviewing this book a quarter-century after it was written, and as no `peace treaty' has been developed between Israel and `Palestine', it appears that the Palestinians still cannot support the author's contention that "a Jewish state [s]hould be created" - at least not one that fails to allow for the return of displaced Palestinian `refugees' back into Israel.