Citation
Coleman, J. (2003), "Book review", European Business Review, Vol. 15 No. 6. https://doi.org/10.1108/ebr.2003.05415fab.005
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2003, MCB UP Limited
Book review
Book review
Balancing Act: US Foreign Policy and the Arab-Israeli Conflict
Vaughn P. ShannonAshgateAldershotJuly 2003156 pp. (Hardback)ISBN 07546 3591 0£42.50
Vaughn Shannon has produced a surprisingly readable book on a very complex subject. The publishers describe it as “suitable for courses on American foreign policy, world politics and the politics of the Middle East”. Today, perhaps, it is especially relevant to Europeans and is likely to remain so for many years to come. It explains clearly the conflicting pressures that American foreign policy makers are under to please the pro-Israel lobbies at home for electoral reasons, and the Arab rulers, because of their oil wealth. In addition to this, Shannon’s book shows the ways in which policy wobbled along since the days of Harry Truman, lacking a central core and so on many occasions upsetting both sides. He also gives us insights into ways in which the situation was affected by the personal views of the main actors on the American political scene.
John Coleman