Bunker Diplomacy: An Arab-American in the U.S. Foreign Service

Nabeel Khoury has written a remarkably cogent memoir.  He not only details life in the Foreign Service in a highly entertaining and engaging style, but also provides provocative and telling insights into many of the crises in the Middle East…From Egypt, to ‘The Magic Kingdom’ to Iraq, Morocco and Yemen — Dr. Khoury undertook his duties with a flair that was both bold and unique. I only wish that American policy makers would read his chapters on Morocco and Yemen in particular, and benefit from his general policy recommendations – It might induce some humility and second thoughts on some important “lessons learned.”

This is a gripping narrative that fuses two stories in one.  The first is the academic and political journey of a fascinating man standing between two worlds — Beirut and Washington, Arabness and Westerness, the State Department and the Middle East…The second narrative is a story of America itself as a great power casting a long shadow over the Arab world. The bureaucratic battles described as occurring inside different presidential administrations over four decades reveal a foreign policy often caught between conflicting personalities and demands. Major events like the Gulf War, Iraq War, and Arab Spring are trenchantly retold from the perspective of policymakers, diplomats, and intelligence officers. That these two stories come from the same book is reason enough to read it, but that they come from the career of the same individual will make readers never forget it.

Nabeel Khoury – an accomplished Arab-American diplomat – offers readers a searing personal journey through America’s trials and tribulations in the Middle East.

Year: 2019

Paperback