At a time of unprecedented upheaval in the
Middle East,
King Abdullah is almost unique in enjoying widespread popular
support. He is the ultimate modern-day monarch, as comfortable at a business
conference as he is at a meeting of the Arab League. In this prescient
memoir-cum-manifesto, he makes an urgent plea to push for a solution to the
Arab-Israeli crisis. He writes with disarming frankness about his own
upbringing and warns of the brewing resentment in the region. A call to arms by
the most dynamic young ruler in the Arab world, Our Last Best Chance helps
explain the volatile underpinnings of the new Arab awakening.
اضافة اعلان
This worthy addition to that distinctive
genre of books written by political leaders still in office is part
autobiography, part political history. King Abdullah stresses the dominant
presence of his father, His Majesty the late King Hussein, throughout his life,
notes the formative influence of his schooling, records his many years of
soldiering, and provides an insider’s view of the Jordanian royal family
(including a circumspect account of King Hussein’s deathbed decision to change
the succession from Abdullah’s uncle, Hassan, to him). The narrative is enriched
by numerous first-hand accounts and appraisals of other political leaders,
including Americans, Israelis, Palestinians, and Iraqis. The book, which went
to press before the Arab uprisings, ends with a plea to seize the “last best
chance” for an Israeli-Palestinian settlement.
Why would a sitting head of state choose to
write about the most explosive issues he faces? King Abdullah does so now
because he believes we face a moment of truth: a last chance for peace in the
Middle East. The prize is enormous, the cost of failure far greater than we
dare imagine.
King Abdullah spent his formative years in
the United States, where he went to Eaglebrook and Deerfield, and in England,
where he trained to be an officer at
Sandhurst. A cavalry officer in the Jordan
Armed Forces-Arab Army, he eventually became commander of the Jordanian Special
Forces, a position that allowed him to forge invaluable relationships with
intelligence and military offices around the world. The head of the Hashemite
family, he is a 43rd-generation direct descendant of the Prophet Mohammad. His
family ruled the holy city of Mecca for more than eight hundred years and his
great-grandfather led the Arab revolt for independence from Ottoman rule.
Read more Lifestyle
.jpg)
.jpg)
