Peace Out of Reach: Middle Eastern Travels and the Search for Reconciliation

By Stephen Eric Bronner

In Peace Out of Reach, Stephen Eric Bronner offers an intriguing analysis and eyewitness account of the political and ideological conflicts plaguing the Middle East. Sharply critical of the United States' policies in Afghanistan and Iraq and concerned about our nation's declining credibility throughout the world, Bronner examines the unexplored possibilities and recurrent roadblocks in the struggle for peace. Whether visiting academics in Iran, refugees in Palestine, or the president of Syria, Bronner seeks to listen and learn. These experiences have shaped Bronner's understanding of how the political crises in the Middle East have dramatically influenced Western politics and culture. Peace Out of Reach also investigates the extraordinary controversies generated by the publication of blasphemous cartoons of the prophet Mohammed, the religious conservatism of Pope Benedict XVI, the character of contemporary anti-Semitism, and the connection between human rights and personal faith. Peace Out of Reach is both a study in foreign policy and a philosophical inquiry that raises profound ethical questions about the world and the United States' role in it. It links experience with erudition and objective analysis with strategic proposals for change. This book will undoubtedly resonate with all people seeking an alternative to the discredited policies of the past. It contributes mightily to the cultivation of a cosmopolitan and democratic politics.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0813124468
• ISBN13: 9780813124469
• Release Date: June 2007
• Publisher: University Press of Kentucky
• Length: 208 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.6" x 8.1"
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

A spotlight on the Middle East

Reviewed by Michele Heather Pollock The political and ideological conflicts plaguing the Middle East are currently of immense interest to the world. The United States is engaged in two wars there, in Afghanistan and Iraq, and trouble is brewing in other nations of the Middle East as well. It is not difficult to find news clips, sound bytes, and even occasionally longer considerations of crises in the Middle East, but it might sometimes be difficult to more deeply consider the implications of the troubles there and the Western World's actions and reactions to it. Stephen Eric Bronner has a very specific perspective on the conflicts in the Middle East. He is Distinguished Professor of Political Science at Rutgers University, and a well-known peace activist. And while his firm convictions against war have obviously influenced his thinking in his book Peace Out of Reach, he raises many questions that should be interesting to most people, even those who do not agree with his political views. Through a series of eleven essays, Bronner takes you along with him on a tour of the Middle East, through Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Syria, Palestine - and then "the Middle East spills over" into the Sudan and Darfur, where Islam collides with Christianity in civil war. Bronner travels with groups of academics and engages in what is known as "citizen diplomacy," where delegations of American citizens meet unofficially with officials and intellectuals of nations fearful of belligerency by the US. You get glimpses into conversations with governmental officials and citizens of the Middle Eastern nations, while Bronner and his fellow travelers try to break though the "us versus them" mentality that has characterized this area of the world, fostering dialogue in order to better understand cultures and ideas different from our own. Whether you are for or against continued or escalated military action in the Middle East, Bronners essays can open your mind to new ideas: unexplored possibilities for pursuing peace in the region, the real and difficult roadblocks to achieving peace, and the immediate and lasting impact of any actions on the average people living in this part of the world. Armchair Interviews says: Stephen Eric Bronner is the senior editor of Logos: A Journal of Modern Society and Culture.