Tinderbox: U.S. Middle East Policy and the Roots of Terrorism

by Stephen Zunes

Common Courage Press (USA) Zed Press (Europe and elsewhere)

November 2002

"This book does a wonderful job of explaining the tragedy of U.S. policy in the Middle East. Professor Zunes powerfully illustrates how the more the United States has militarized
the region, the less secure we have become. Perhaps more importantly, he shows how we have become the target of terrorists not because of our values but because our foreign policy has strayed from those values. It is particularly
refreshing to find someone who not only recognizes that Palestinian rights and Israeli security are dependent on each other, but understands how U.S. policy has harmed the
prospects for both. The list of tragic blunders and policy debacles Zunes details is a long one, yet he concludes with clear policy alternatives and a sincere hope that, through citizen action, our government's pursuit of Pax Americana will some day be replaced by a quest for justice and
sustainable peace." --Rabbi Michael Lerner, Editor, Tikkun Magazine

"This is the book that Americans should read to really find out 'why they hate us.' An essential guide, perhaps the most useful book on the actual record of US foreign policy in the region." --As`ad AbuKhalil, author, Bin Laden, Islam,
and America's New "War on Terrorism"

"A careful, informed and perceptive reconstruction of major historical forces in the Middle East and the world power nexus in which it is enmeshed. Zunes provides very valuable
background for analysis and comprehension of what is at stake and where policy choices can be expected to lead. A very useful handbook to the complexities of this disturbed and fateful egion." --Noam Chomsky, Professor of
Linguistics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

"Nobody has a better grasp of the impacts of U.S. policies and practices on the Middle East than Stephen Zunes. Nobody states the case for a fundamentally different US policy in a more compelling way." --Scott Kennedy, Chair, National
Council, Fellowship of Reconciliation

"His clear exposition exposes the fallacies and
contradictions of U.S. Middle East policy and suggests reasonable alternatives." --Joel Beinin, Professor of Middle East History, Stanford University; President, Middle East Studies Association of North America

"A holistic and multi-faceted interpretation of the failures and follies of U.S. policy by one of the most insightful, independent-minded, and prolific Middle East analysts in the United States today." --Martha Honey, Co-Director,
Foreign Policy In Focus Project; Fellow, Institute for Policy Studies

"Scholarly analysis at its best. Provocative and perceptive." --Naseer Aruri, Chancellor Professor (Emeritus), University of Massachusetts

"Zunes provides a rare service in combining insights on U.S. policy in the Middle East with a cogent analysis of the current war against terrorism. This book should serve as a textbook for students and a guide for citizens." --Saul
Landau, Director of Digital Media and International Outreach Programs, California State Polytechnic University--Pomona

"Zunes has a scope and sweep that are impressive. A must read for anyone who would understand how others see us, the negative impact of many of our policies in the Middle East, and the root causes of terrorism against us." --Kathleen Christison,author, Perceptions of Palestine: Their Influence on U.S. Middle East Policy

"Clearly written, timely, and wise, making complex history understandable even for those without previous background on these issues. For years, Stephen Zunes has been ahead of the
curve. We need to listen to him now more than ever." --Paul Loeb, author, Soul of a Citizen: Living With Conviction in a Cynical Time

"TINDERBOX is exactly what we have needed-a concise, intelligent account of American policy in the Middle East. Bold and persuasive, buttressed by careful research." --Howard Zinn, author, People's History of the United States

Zunes biography:

Dr. Stephen Zunes is an associate professor of Politics and chair of the Peace & Justice Studies Program at the University of San Francisco. He also serves as a senior policy analyst and Middle East editor for the Foreign Policy in Focus Project and as a research associate at the Center
for Global, International and Regional Studies at the University of California-Santa Cruz. A native of North Carolina, he received his PhD. from Cornell University, his M.A. from Temple University and his B.A. from Oberlin College. He has taught and lectured widely, holding faculty
positions at the Ithaca College, University of Puget Sound, and Whitman College. He is an associate editor of Peace Review and is on the governing council of the International
Peace Research Association. In 2002, he was recognized by the Peace and Justice Studies Association as "Peace Scholar of the Year."

Dr. Zunes is the author of scores of articles for
scholarly and general readership on Middle Eastern
politics, U.S. foreign policy, international terrorism and social movements. He is the principal editor of Nonviolent Social Movements (Blackwell Publishers) and the author of the
highly-acclaimed Tinderbox: U.S. Middle East Policy and the Roots of Terrorism (Common Courage Press) and the upcoming Western Sahara: Nationalism and Conflict in Northwest Africa (Syracuse University Press.)

He was also a recipient of a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship on Middle Eastern and Central Asian Studies at Dartmouth College and a Joseph J. Malone Fellowship in Arab and Islamic Studies. He served as founding director of the Institute for a New Middle East Policy and as a research fellow at the Institute for Policy
Studies and the Institute for Global Security Studies. He has also served as a fellow of the United States Institute of Peace on the study of international and regional organizations in conflict resolution.

Dr. Zunes has made frequent visits to the Middle East, where he has met with top government officials, academics, journalists and opposition leaders.

His op-ed columns are regularly circulated through the Scripps-Howard and Knight-Ridder wire services and have appeared in major daily newspapers throughout the United States. In addition, he has spoken at over 50 colleges and
universities and scores of community groups and is a frequent guest on Pacifica Radio, National Public Radio, Public Radio International, BBC radio, MSNBC, Fox News and other media outlets for analysis on breaking world events. He serves on the Middle East Task Force for the Fellowship of Reconciliation and as a consultant for a number of peace and human rights organizations in both the United States and overseas.