NOTE: With this issue, American Diplomacy resumes its regular feature of presenting reviews of books that we believe our readership will find interesting and relevant. This department, as announced in the Spring 1999 issue of the journal, is headed by Rorin Platt of Peace College in Raleigh, North Carolina, himself a veteran reviewer for a number of publications. Let Professor Platt know (rorinplatt@mindspring.com) if you have an interest in reviewing works for us. ~ Ed.

 

What Terrorist Threat?
By DAVID W. THORNTON

The Ultimate Terrorists
By Jessica Stern (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1999. 214 pages. $22.95.)

“What if terrorists exploded a homemade nuclear device at the Empire State building in New York City?”. . . Stern intends her book to serve as a warning to the public and government alike to take active measures to prevent such attacks and . . . to prepare for the destruction and chaos that would inevitably follow. . . . Stern’s volume is powerfully suggestive of what in all probability will be a potent and dangerous force . . . during the coming century – terrorists willing and able to employ WMD (Weapons of Mass Destruction) in pursuit of their political and ideological aims.” [FULL TEXT]

 

Decade of Transition: Eisenhower, Kennedy, and the
Origins of the American-Israeli Alliance
By Abraham Ben-Zvi (New York: Columbia University Press, 1998. Pp. xxii, 219. $17.50 paper)

“The pro-Western Saudis’ refusal to allow American and British use of its airspace . . . during the airlift [to save the Jordanian monarchy] had an enormous effect on America’s security calculations. Washington began to realize that the Israelis might end up its strongest, most stable ally and anti-Communist bulwark in the Middle East.” [FULL TEXT]