by Rashid Khalidi
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Product Description
Rashid Khalidi's powerful book examines the record of Western involvement in the Middle East and analyzes the likely outcome of our most recent incursions into the area. Drawing on his encyclopedic knowledge of the political and cultural history of the entire region, Khalidi paints a chilling scenario of our present situation and yet offers a tangible alternative that can help us find the path to peace rather than Empire. Additionally, Professor Khalidi contributes a new introduction to this paperback edition, covering recent developments in Iraq and the aftermath of the U.S. presidential election.
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Average Customer Review:
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
Not "Fair and Balanced", But...., 2007-07-16
Other reviewers are certainly correct that Professor Khalidi has a very obvious and largely one-sided agenda which I doubt he would deny. (He does teach at Columbia, after all.) Having said that, I don't believe we Americans are sufficiently exposed to that "other" agenda, and the book serves that purpose if no other. Khalidi, moreover, does a superb job of briefly and compellingly describing colonial involvement in the Middle East by way of supporting his contention that, in brief, we had no idea (but should have) of what we were getting ourselves into in Iraq. In the course of this discussion, he admirably minces no words in describing the failings of the indigenous Middle East regimes and, among other things, their indifference to their peoples' sufferings and refusal to use their oil wealth to alleviate them.
The book understandably suffers from its topicality. Last released in 2005, the author's castigation of the neo-con's and their theories reads like ancient history. Also, it would have been interesting to get the professor's views on what has happended since in Iraq and more generally in the "war on terror". Neither here, nor, I suspect, in such a commentary, does he address the very real, if quixotic, undertaking by Muslim fundmentalists to impose their theocracy on the world. By way of example, Fox News in mentioned (unfavorably!) four or five times while the word "sharia" appears, if I'm not mistaken, once.
Having said all this, the book is well-written and thoughtful, and if you have any lingering doubts about how "Operation Quicksand" is likely to turn out, it will certainly exacerbate them.
So we are left with picking up the pieces in the metaphorical Pottery Barn, forever wondering why we (i.e., our leaders) didn't know better. Perhaps it was too much to expect that they would ponder the history so ably discussed by Khalidi before making their move. I've always thought they could have learned as much by re-screening 1962's "Lawrence of Arabia" in which Peter O'Toole's Lawrence upbraids Omar Sharif's Sherif Ali at the Harith well just after Ali has killed Lawrence's guide because he was a Hazimi and thus could not drink from it. Lawrence says to Ali: "So long as the Arabs fight tribe against tribe, so long will they be a little people, a silly people, greedy, barbarous and cruel, as you are." Yes, indeed.
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
vibrant argument, 2007-03-01
I enjoyed reading Resurrecting Empire. The argument of the book is precise, informative, and thorough. It is valuable to learn that before finding ourselves into a long bloody war with another nation, we should explore the past, learn its history, and find better ways of dealing with the situation. This book explains not only the importance of history, but also how to learn from historical events and not commit the same mistakes over again.
7 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
 Unbecoming of a scholar with such a pedigree, 2007-02-22
Rashid Khalidi begins Resurrecting Empire with a brief discussion about why he wrote the book. He describes the public speeches he gave during the process and found, believe it or not, that everyone who came to hear him agreed with what he had to say. He wonders if these people are just a marginalized group of malcontents, but he quickly brushes that notion aside. Surely he, and his audience, must be right. This type of arrogant approach sums up the rest of the book. The supreme irony here is that Khalidi is guilty of nearly everything he blames others for. At the end of his introduction, he has faith that his book will "initiate a more informed and more rational debate," but he has unfortunately produced little more than a rant that preaches to the choir. According to Khalidi, Resurrecting Empire's purpose is to shed light on how America is viewed in the Middle East. This is a worthy goal, certainly deserving of much analysis and debate. Instead of actually doing this, Khalidi presents a hodgepodge of watered-down chapters that do not do the subjects justice.
The 2003 war against Iraq is primarily what inspired the book, but there is not much discussion of the war itself. Khalidi does not completely butcher the analysis of foreign policy under the Bush administration, but there is a serious misreading of the motives behind the invasion. He puts way too much emphasis on the neocon conspiracy theories without bothering to go beyond what was an oversimplified and lazy set of arguments so many others were making. Khalidi uses language like "the war party" when referring to people like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, not the type of language that inspires "informed and rational" debate. Also included in this discussion is the hypocrisy of the U.S. when it comes to democracy promotion. He accurately points out that the U.S. still gives support to the governments of Egypt and Saudi Arabia, but demonstrates a double standard when dealing with countries like Iraq and Syria. He acts as though democracy promotion for the U.S. only includes overthrowing people like Hussein, when in fact there is much more to this policy than Khalidi admits. An excellent overview of these policies can be found in a book edited by Thomas Carothers and Marina Ottaway called Uncharted Journey: Promoting Democracy in the Middle East.
Khalidi presents a very selective and misleading set of arguments. Others are certainly guilty of the same thing, but Khalidi acts as if he's setting the record straight here. To take one example, he grossly misrepresents America's role in Iraq during the 60s. He makes it seem as if the U.S. were allied with Hussein and the Baath party all along. He even states that the U.S. was involved with the Baath takeover in 1968, but the footnote he provides mentions nothing about that particular coup. On top of that, no other Iraqi scholar implicates the U.S. in this coup. Khalidi is presenting what he wants his audience to believe, not what actually happened. These types of problems of selectivity run rampant through the book. The other main chapters deal with Oil and the Arab/Israeli dispute. While he makes a convincing argument in some respects, Khalidi does nothing more than tell a partisan and one-sided story.
What is most disappointing here is that Khalidi should be capable of producing rational and thoughtful debate. Resurrecting Empire does not even begin to reach that threshold. He teaches at Columbia University and has impressive academic credentials, this is not the type of person that should be in the business of producing rants. The book only makes sense if one takes the view that the real goal was to merely produce a book that Khalidi knew would sell, not something that really contributed to the debate over current Middle Eastern events.
5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
 The book Bush should have read, 2006-12-20
Khalidi's knowledge on the Middle East is beyond evident in this book, but his distortions and views can be at times somewhat misleading. The information and knowledge given to us from the view of someone within is phenominal. His thoughts and views on why the war in Iraq happened and what should have been done before we went in are fantastic. My problems stem from the obvious bias within that seems to point all the problems in the region on the US and other Western countries.
16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
Strongly Recommended, 2006-11-05
The reviews by the standard troupe of Israel apologistas and Judea-Samaria crowd aside, this is a great book for the novice reader of contemporary Middle-East history. It is not exactly an easy read, perhaps due to language barrier issues, but with a little patience, the Westerner who has only been exposed to drivel from mainstream media has a lot to learn from this book.
To those who fault this book, and many like it, for being "one-sided", I have to say, I wonder how you would write a book about a murder or a rape? Validate both sides equally? The obvious point being, there do not exist two equally valid sides to all human conflicts, and to admit to that is the first step to find a workable remedy.
And to the other few who have trashed this book and other works by Khalidi, I have seen from your other reviews that even works by Israeli Zionist foreign ministers (Shlomo Ben Ami) and pro-Israeli historians (Benny Morris) don't please your taste, since any criticism of the State of Israel is tantamount to an unforgivable sin to you. People like Ben Ami and Morris, despite being strongly pro-Israel and unabashed Zionists, have the couraged to admit that many massacres and atrocities were committed by the Yishuv and later Israel. Their justifications may not appeal to the non-Jewish non-Arab outsider (Morris' famous line: "You have to break quite a few eggs to make a good omlette"), but at least they do not try to deny all historic facts. But to some, mere mention of such facts is a deal-breaker. Let the silence go on ...
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