The United States in the Middle East: Interests and Obstacles

Seth Tillman's 'The US in the Middle East' is practically one of the most important works on the subject in the entire literature, yet it is almost completely ignored today. Tillman breaks down the PLO's moves towards accepting a political settlement with Israel along the lines of UN Resolution 242 and pairs it with Israel's refusal to negotiate. Tillman documents the Palestine National Council in Cairo March 1977, "calling for the establishment of a Palestinian state in part of the territory of Palestine, accepting the principle of partition without the qualification that had been attached to the resolution of June, 1974, which stated 'permanent and just peace' could only come with self-determination for the Palestinian people 'on the whole of the soil of their homeland.'" (213). Tillman scrupulously documents the PLO's moves to accepting Israel within its pre-war borders and reveals how Israel's refusal to comply with international law consistently relies on heavy diplomatic and fiscal support from the US. An extremely important study.