Ezra's Bookshelf

The Peace Puzzle

by Daniel C. Kurtzer, Scott B. Lasensky, William B. Quandt, Steven L. Spiegel and Shibley Telhami · 350 pages · ~6.5 hrs

Foreign PolicyHistory

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The Peace Puzzle assembles five distinguished scholars and practitioners to analyze American efforts to broker Arab-Israeli peace across four decades. The authors—Daniel Kurtzer served as Ambassador to both Egypt and Israel, William Quandt was a National Security Council staff member during the Carter administration, and their colleagues bring comparable expertise—combine academic analysis with firsthand diplomatic experience. The book examines each administration's approach from Nixon through Obama, identifying patterns of success and failure that transcend partisan divisions. Key questions recur throughout: When should the United States pressure allies versus adversaries? How do domestic politics constrain diplomatic options? What role should international law and United Nations resolutions play? The authors trace how changing regional dynamics—from Cold War competition to the rise of Islamist movements to the Arab Spring—reshaped the peace process landscape. They offer frank assessments of individual presidents and secretaries of state, praising Carter's Camp David achievement while criticizing other administrations' strategic incoherence. For readers seeking to understand why Middle East peace has proven so elusive despite sustained American attention, this collaborative analysis provides both historical depth and practical wisdom.

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