The Sixth Crisis: Iran, Israel, America, and the Rumors of War

by Dana Allin, Steven Simon

There have been five central crises in America's post World War II encounter with the Middle East, and the Obama administration now faces a sixth. Iran's progress toward a nuclear weapons capability, and the prospect of Israel launching air strikes to stop it, are ingredients for a conflict that could ruin any residual hopes for fostering peace in the region.

The Sixth Crisis explores the fraught linkages between the Iranian nuclear challenge, the increasing likelihood of an Israeli preventive strike, the continuing Israel-Palestine tragedy, and President Barack Obama's efforts to recast America's relations with the world's Muslims. It is the first full account of the situation since Obama took office. The authors, a former senior official on President Clinton's National Security Council Staff and a leading authority on international politics, lay out in clear and accessible detail the technical and political dimensions of Iran's nuclear program, and the ongoing diplomacy to stop it. They show how Israel's panic about Iran's nuclear threat--combined with its policy toward the Palestinians--is undermining Jerusalem's alliance with America. Tehran, meanwhile, is exploiting tensions between Arab regimes fearful of a nuclear Iran and an Arab public that is both angry about the plight of the Palestinians and resentful of Israel's nuclear
monopoly in the region. The Sixth Crisis brilliantly illuminates this fateful juncture. The status quo is on an incline to disaster, and the hopes that President Obama has inspired are threatened by the toxic mixture of Israeli-Palestinian stalemate and Iran's nuclear ambitions.

The time bomb of Iran's defiance and Israel's panic has the potential to spark a firestorm that would imperil US interests in the Middle East and engulf Obama's presidency. With the outcome of this unfolding crisis far from certain, The Sixth Crisis is required reading not only for policymakers, but also for anyone interested in world politics.

224 pages, Hardcover

First published November 5, 2010

Reviews

[Jason S · Rating 5 out of 5]

A clear, concise, and insightful account of the current status of the Middle East (in late 2010) in regards to Iran's nuclear program and the effect this has on the US and Israel. Insightful ideas about Obama's foreign policy in the area. A must read on this topic.

[Kristin · Rating 2 out of 5]

This story is a powerful and useful book to read. It helped me get a better understanding of whats going on in America and other countries around the world. I disagree with the fact that if we didn't go to war that it was cause more of a problem in Iraq or Iran, I think it'd be saving millions of lives and stop us from making ourselves go into a larger debt then we already have. I also think that since so many soldiers are in Iraq and Iran that they should shut down the nuclear production plans. I agree with the Authors when they say that "There are “no simple solutions,only bad options and disastrous ones.” Overall this book was enjoyable.

[Joni · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well documented book on the history of America's involvement with Iran, Iraq and Israel. It reviews hostilities between Israel and Iran and the very real potential for nuclear war, which is shocking and quite sobering. Hopefully American diplomats are reading this book too and working to negotiate a settlement between these sworn enemies.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty deep analysis, albeit dated now (worries about Syria being dragged into a open conflict redundant due to the civil war, Egypt's revolution, Libya Benghazi, etc had modified the scene). No good outcomes, no easy decisions.