New Book Examines Middle East Peace Efforts
A five-year labor came to fruition this fall for Alma College’s Derick “Sandy” Hulme with the publishing of his newest book, The Israeli-Palestinian Road Map for Peace: A Critical Analysis.
The idea for the book came as he was finishing a previous book about
the impact of Palestinian terrorism on American foreign policy. That
book, titled Palestinian Terrorism and US Foreign Policy, 1969-1977: Dynamics of Response, was published in 2004.
“’Palestinian Terrorism’ has a more historical focus,” says
Hulme, professor of political science. “I was interested in the current
efforts for peace, so I began working on a new book.”
Derick "Sandy" Hulme
The
“Road Map for Peace” plan was put forth by the United States, United
Nations, European Union and Russia with a goal of creating a
Palestinian state by December of 2005.
“Obviously that didn’t happen, so my book is a case study to assess why
this plan, which was supposed to resolve the conflict, did not,” he
says. “The book also has suggestions for moving the process forward.”
Hulme argues that the “road map” was unable to overcome the
participants’ “significant and longstanding differences,” including
“different perspectives on empowered multilateral versus mediated
bilateral negotiations, incremental versus comprehensive peacemaking
strategies, and formulations for resolving such final status issues as
Jerusalem, borders, settlements, and refugees.”
The plan’s failure highlights the need for policymakers to develop the
conceptual skills and perceptual sensitivities that are necessary for
resolving transnational conflicts, says Hulme.
Hulme used archival material from a variety of presidential libraries,
including the Nixon, Ford and Carter libraries, as well as negotiation
documents in his research.
“There are no other books dealing with this effort,” he says.
Hulme, also the author of a book on the U.S. boycott of the 1980
Olympics, already has started a fourth book about the efforts of the
Clinton and Bush administrations to use terrorism for political
advantage.
Posted: Mon, November 10th, 2008 at 9:27AM
