East Bank/West Bank: Jordan and the Prospects for Peace (review)

218 SAIS REVIEW about the ability of the resistance to continue as the war imposes further hardship on the Afghan people. Both he and Arnold find promising signs that the resistance may be coalescing and that it may truly unite in the future. Girardet's book is not marred by the extreme attitudes of Arnold, but it does suffer from the absence of the Soviet perspective. This is less Girardet's fault than the Soviets', who make adequate coverage of their side of the war impossible for Western reporters. Yet the outcome of the war, as both Arnold and Girardet make clear, depends upon Soviet goals and attitudes toward it. Those, however, remain obscure. East Bank/West Bank: Jordan and the Prospects for Peace. By Arthur R. Day. New York: Council on Foreign Relations, 1986. 176 pp. $17.50/cloth. Reviewed by George L. Faux, M.A. candidate, SAIS. Academic writers are too often polarized in their approach to the study of the Middle East. On one side stand the theoreticians who offer few concrete ideas or solutions; on the other side stand the historians, whose quick-fix answers are too simplistic to hold any merit. In East Bank/West Bank Arthur Day establishes a solid foothold in the middle. The book's analysis of the Hashemite kingdom ofJordan and the future prospects of this tiny country at the center of the world's most volatile region is a fine mix of the concrete and the theoretical. At the beginning of the book the author appears to be bogged down in the history of the country since the Mandate period and the history of the succession of the monarchy. But it quickly becomes evident that he intends to use this historical backdrop as an explanation for the interplay of contemporary forces and as a foundation for future developments in Jordan. The seemingly storybook tale of the Hashemites' rise to power is essential to understanding their current motives and directions in the Middle East. The history of the nation is the history of its monarch, His Majesty King Hussein. The author does a fine job of illustrating the many accomplishments and disappointments of the Jordanian ruler. King Hussein has ruled Jordan since 1953, through six U.S. presidencies and eighteen attempts on his life. There have been times when the monarchy appeared on the brink of collapse, but each time Hussein has battled back to solidify his reign. As an adviser explained, "He has become a necessity for the country — its security blanket and protective umbrella." The country matured along with the king, according to Day, and it has given him a strength and position that may elude any future leader. Day is quite explicit in his portrayal of the Jordanian military as the force that has protected the king from internal and external problems. Internal strife culminated in the "Black September" uprising in 1970, when the king expelled the Palestinian Liberation Organization fromJordan after a bloody conflict. The insurgency, claims Day, still tempers Hussein's involvement with the Palestinian movement. The author does a laudable job detailing the difficult internal situation inJordan, a country with a population that is 50 percent Palestinian. The disposition of the Palestinian refugees and the West Bank are the key focus of BOOK REVIEWS 219 King Hussein, according to Day, and coupled with serious external threats from Israel and Syria, Jordan is in a very tenuous position. Jordan has survived to date due to the strength of its leadership. Day, a former deputy assistant secretary of state for Near East and South Asian affairs, does not foresee a Palestinian takeover ofJordan in the absence of the Hashemite monarchy. But he acknowledges that a solution to the Palestinian problem is an integral part of the monarchy's future survival. The king's past relationship with the Palestinians has been uneven, and he must move with caution. The author sees the acceptance of UN Resolution 242, leading to the return of the occupied territories for peace, as the logical road to a settlement of the Palestinian problem. Here Day echoes a view on the settlement of the West Bank problem that is shared by many. But he...