Russia and the Arabs

This work presents the last fifty years of tumultuous Middle East history - told from the unique perspective of a former Russian Prime Minister and sometime spy Yevgeny Primakov. Part memoir, part historical account, "Russia and the Arabs" tells the story of the past 50 years' developments in the Mi [...]
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This work presents the last fifty years of tumultuous Middle East history - told from the unique perspective of a former Russian Prime Minister and sometime spy Yevgeny Primakov. Part memoir, part historical account, "Russia and the Arabs" tells the story of the past 50 years' developments in the Middle East from a Russian point of view. Over his long career as a "Pravda" journalist with mysteriously deep sources and a habit of acting on assignment from the highest circles of the Soviet government, Yevgeny Primakov formed personal relationships with nearly every leader of note in the Arab world, from Gamal Abdel Nasser and Anwar Sadat to Yasir Arafat to Saddam Hussein. He was sent on secret missions to negotiate Soviet recognition with at least five different Israeli prime ministers; he was there for parties on yachts in the Nile with Nikita Khrushchev; and, he was the first journalist to interview the new leader of Iraq in 1964 and the last to speak with Lebanese Prime Minister Rufik Hariri, five days before he was assassinated in February 2005.Primakov tells the inside story of the break up of the United Arab Republic in the early 1960s, as well as his secret attempts to patch it back together as late as 1983. He explains why the 1967 Arab-Israeli War was the result of a miscalculation by Nasser, but the 1973 war was a miscalculation by Henry Kissinger. He also describes Russia's heretofore unknown role in the 1991 Gulf War, and offers his opinion on the death of Saddam Hussein. This is a book whose viewpoint is distinctly non-Western. Primakov depicts the Soviets as consistently supporting the Arab secular nationalists (who were notably unenthusiastic about socialism) and the U.S. as supporting the Israelis and the destabilizing radical religious elements that later turned against America. He lays most of the blame for the continuing conflict between Israel and Palestine at the feet of the U.S. and Israel. Not everyone will agree with Primakov's perspective, but his first-hand accounts of behind-the-scenes encounters and his insights into what really drove the region's key events make "Russia and the Arabs" an essential read for everyone interested in world affairs.