Synopses & Reviews
In this urgent, balanced, and passionate book, Nobel Peace Laureate and former President Jimmy Carter argues that the present moment is a unique time for achieving peace in the Middle East — and he offers a bold and comprehensive plan to do just that.
President Carter has been a student of the biblical Holy Land all his life. For the last three decades, as president of the United States and as founder of The Carter Center, he has studied the complex and interrelated issues of the region's conflicts and has been actively involved in reconciling them. He knows the leaders of all factions in the region who will need to play key roles, and he sees encouraging signs among them.
Carter describes the history of previous peace efforts and why they fell short. He argues persuasively that the road to a peace agreement is now open and that it has broad international and regional support. Most of all, since there will be no progress without courageous and sustained U.S. leadership, he says the time for progress is now. President Barack Obama is committed to a personal effort to exert that leadership, starting early in his administration.
This is President Carter's call for action, and he lays out a practical and doable path to peace.
Review
"The steps by which the new American president can bring cohesion of agendas and efforts and thus find peace are spelled out in Carter's trademark even prose. As always, his is a voice to be listened to." Booklist
Synopsis
Following his hugely bestselling, hugely controversial Palestine Peace Not Apartheid, Carter describes his lifelong personal and political commitment to Israel and to what he refers to as the Holy Land. He describes his efforts both as President and as head of the Carter Center to find a peaceful outcome between Israel and the surrounding Arab countries. Carter does not apologize for the judgments in his earlier book, but he places them in the context of his peacemaking role and his call for deep concessions on both sides.
About the Author
Jimmy Carter was born in Plains, Georgia, and served as thirty-ninth President of the United States. He and his wife, Rosalynn, founded The Carter Center, a nonprofit organization that prevents and resolves conflicts, enhances freedom and democracy, and improves health around the world. He is the author of numerous books, including Palestine Peace Not Apartheid, An Hour Before Daylight, and Our Endangered Values. He received a "Best Spoken Word" Grammy Award for his recording of Our Endangered Values. All of President Carter's proceeds from this series will go to the Maranatha Baptist Church of Plains, Georgia.
Table of Contents
Contents
List of Maps
Introduction: Storm Over a Book
1. From Abraham's Journeys to the Six-Day War
2. My Early Involvement with Israel
3. Peace at Camp David
4. Reagan, Bush I, and Clinton, 1981-2000
5. The Early Bush II Years, 2001-2005
6. Withdrawal from Gaza and Its Aftermath
7. Spasmodic Peace Efforts, Long Overdue
8. How Close Is Israel to Its Major Goals?
9. A Search for Information
10. Can Hamas Play a Positive Role?
11. Assessment of the Region
12. Challenges to Israelis and Palestinians
13. An Agenda for Peace
Appendix 1: U.N. Resolution 242, 1967
Appendix 2: Camp David Accords, 1978
Appendix 3: Arab Peace Proposal, 2002
Appendix 4: Key Points of the International Quartet's Roadmap for Peace, April 30, 2003
Appendix 5: Israel's Response to the Roadmap, May 25, 2003
Acknowledgments
Index