Behind the Desert Storm: A secret archive stolen from the Kremlin that exposes direct lies in the memoirs of President Bush Senior, Brent Scowcroft, and James Baker by Pavel Stroilov
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
Purpotedly based on recovered Gorbachev archives, including transcripts of meetings and phone conversations with such pivotal leaders and diplomats as George H. W. Bush, Mitterand, Tariq Azziz, Mubarak, and more this book seeks to support the idea of Russia as pulling the strings within Bush's "New World Order" seeking to increase the power of "Red Arabs" and thus bolster Arab socialism at the cost of America's leverage in the Mideast. Beside the expected protective diplomatic role for such Russia-sphere partners as Syria and Iraq, these documents also suppport a willings on Bush's part to allow Saddam to link Palestinian issues with resolving Kuwait, despite publicly stating otherwise. This itself also seems possible since hot mic and other signs show Israel's position as desperate victim has started to tarnish. Still, over all, as supported in the Epilogue, an Arab Spring seems to be sweeping away into the save Soviet ash heap the dictatorial Arab regimes and American-Israel cooperation in the Mideast seems all the more stronger, witness Stuxnet. So, while this book can help exaplin, I think, Putin vis-a-vis Assad/Syria, it is in the whole a detailed story of a failed defensive diplomacy that emerged for a time in the Soviet twilight.
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