Radical Islam: Medieval Theology and Modern Politics by Emmanuel SivanReview by: John C. CampbellForeign Affairs, Vol. 63, No. 5 (Summer, 1985), pp. 1129-1130Published by: Council on Foreign RelationsStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20042439 .

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RECENT BOOKS 1129

provocative, but with a right to be so since he has studied the record so

thoroughly.

MIDDLE EAST CRISIS: U.S. DECISION-MAKING IN 1958, 1970, AND 1973. By Alan Dowty. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1985, 416

pp. $42.50.

Following the same path of intensive research on American policy decisions evident in the work of William Quandt, Steven Spiegel (above) and others, Alan Dowty concentrates on three separate episodes, one in the Eisenhower-Dulles period and two in that of Nixon and Kissinger. Not content with providing step-by-step accounts of the course of these partic ular crises, the author looks into the generic problem of governmental conduct in situations of crisis, testing his conclusions about each crisis, and on patterns common to all three, against a formidable array of hypotheses on "coping mechanisms," dimensions of choice and so on. That part of the

enterprise is complex, at times overly mechanical, but generally stimulating and useful for understanding both past and future crises; it is not merely airy theorizing, as Dowty stays in close touch with the solid body of fact

brought out in his narrative.

THE REAGAN ADMINISTRATION AND THE PALESTINIAN QUESTION: THE FIRST THOUSAND DAYS. By Juliana S. Peck. Wash

ington: Institute for Palestine Studies, 1984, 138 pp. $7.00. A full account of U.S. Middle East policy in the first Reagan term is not

possible without going into the backstage discussions and interagency wran

gling that constitute the policymaking process in Washington, but Juliana Peck does fairly well in the more limited task she set herself: to tell the

story, from official statements and the columns of The New York Times, of

policy declared and policy in action. The book will not find universal

acceptance for objectivity?as no book on this subject will?but the inter

pretations and conclusions are sober and reasoned, not propagandistic.

BEN-GURION AND THE PALESTINIAN ARABS: FROM PEACE TO WAR. By Shabtai Teveth. New York: Oxford, 1985, 234 pp. $17.95.

Using the Zionist leader's diaries and letters as a supplement and correc tion to what he said publicly at various times, Ben-Gurion's biographer tells a fascinating story of his changing thoughts and proposals on relations with the Arabs, his plans for dialogue, cooperation and possible federation, and his talks with Musa Alami and other Arabs, from the time of his arrival in Palestine to the White Paper of 1939. Much of it has an unreal quality, in the light of the realities of the time and of what has happened since. Indeed, as the author concludes, Ben-Gurion's moves in dealing with the Arabs were above all tactical; he never wavered from the priority given to Jewish immigration, strength and statehood.

RADICAL ISLAM: MEDIEVAL THEOLOGY AND MODERN POLI TICS. By Emmanuel Sivan. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1985, 218

pp. $18.50. An Israeli scholar's disquisition on Islamic resurgence in Egypt and Syria,

which is not imported from Iran but rooted in orthodox Sunni tradition. He shows how the movement against secularism, Westernization, material

ism and corruption has developed as a result of disillusion with other

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1130 FOREIGN AFFAIRS

ideologies (liberalism, Nasserism, Marxism). Drawing mainly on the writings of Sayyid Qutb and his followers, the book highlights the potential political role of the radical wing of the movement, strongly based in the universities,

which has embraced terror and violent revolution. There is explosive material under the surface calm in Egypt and Syria today.

A CLARIFICATION OF QUESTIONS. By Ayatollah Sayyed Ruhollah Mousavi Khomeini. Translated by J. Borujerdi. Boulder (Colo.): Westview

Press, 1984, 432 pp. $32.00.

Ayatollah Khomeini's authoritative answers to some three thousand

questions governing the conduct of believers in the Shi'ite faith of Iran.

They cover everything from purity and prayer to commercial practices. These rules may be of greater interest to theology students than to those of international relations, but they do have relevance for the latter in such

matters as relations between Muslims and non-Muslims and in the fact that

religion and politics in present-day Iran are inseparable.

SHAH OF SHAHS. By Ryszard Kapuscinski. San Diego: Harcourt Brace

Jovanovich, 1985, 160 pp. $12.95. Presented as scenes in a drama of struggle between the Iranian people

and the Shah, with accompanying comment on the state of mind of both and on the nature of revolutions, the book is hardly a full and reliable account of what happened, but it is well written and interesting reading.

THE PERSIAN GULF UNVEILED. By John Bulloch. New York: Congdon & Weed, 1985, 224 pp. $16.95.

The Gulf has already been unveiled by a number of writers, but this

report by an informed British journalist is nonetheless welcome, for it combines historical background with firsthand observation over many years and it is written with a light touch. The coverage is limited to the smaller Gulf states: Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. The

big brothers?Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Iran?are recognized as by no means

without influence, but for the purposes of this book are part of the world outside.

OPEC AND THE THIRD WORLD: THE POLITICS OF AID. By Shireen Hunter. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1985, 320 pp. $27.50.

This book has two great merits. It brings together for the first time, from widely scattered sources, all the statistics on OPEC members' aid to

other countries. Second, it discusses with cool detachment why and how that aid was dispensed. The author also examines the question of how much

that aid was motivated by solidarity with the Third World vis-?-vis the First and by common interest in the creation of a New International Economic

Order. The answer is "not much," owing to more urgent national and

regional (mainly Arab) political priorities, differences within OPEC, and

the overriding importance of relations with the industrial West.

Asia and the Pacific Donald S. Zagoria

U.S.-JAPAN STRATEGIC RECIPROCITY. By Edward A. Olsen. Stan

ford: Hoover Press, 1985, 194 pp. $24.95.

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