Author: Martin Kramer

FDR-Ibn Saud

On By Martin Kramer

Today is the sixtieth anniversary of the 1945 meeting between President Franklin Roosevelt and Saudi King Abd al-Aziz Ibn Saud, which took place on board the U.S.S. Quincy in the Great Bitter Lake, Egypt. The summit is regarded as the beginning of the U.S.-Saudi relationship. In this photo, the king is speaking to the interpreter, Colonel William A. Eddy, USMC (at the time, U.S. minister plenipotentiary to Saudi Arabia). Fleet Admiral William D. Leahy, USN, the president’s aide and chief of staff, stands to the left. The anniversary will be marked today by surviving crew members of the ship, in an event in Florida, held under the auspices of the newly-formed “Friends of Saudi Arabia.” Grandsons of Roosevelt and the Saudi king will attend.

Eddy, a legendary Arabist, gave the canonical account of the meeting, in a pamphlet published in 1954. There he wrote:

The guardian of the holy places of Islam, and the nearest we have to a successor to the caliphs, the defender of the Muslim faith and of the holy cities of three hundred million people, cemented a friendship with the head of a great Western and Christian nation. The meeting marks the high point of Muslim alliance with the West.

I won’t even begin to unravel that. One of the low points came a couple of months later, with Project Switch, an OSS plan to steal the contents of Ibn Saud’s toilet (to get a read on his health). Eddy was an enthusiastic part of the scheme, but the records suggest it was scuttled. (Anthony Cave Brown told the story in his history of ARAMCO.)

We are awash in biographies of FDR and Ibn Saud, and Leahy too is the subject of a biography. (He opposed the use of the atomic bomb against Japan, which usually gets him a footnote.) But Eddy’s story has yet to be told in a comprehensive manner. Born in Lebanon to missionary parents, fluent in Arabic, he personified the Arabists of the old school. After a career in education, intelligence, and diplomacy, he joined ARAMCO (of course), and finally retired to Beirut. Here’s a short bio centered on his military exploits (with a very dashing photo of him). His papers are in Princeton, and I urge someone young and smart to pick up the thread.

More photos: Ibn Saud boards the Quincy, and chats with Roosevelt.

Update: Here’s a report of today’s commemoration. Participants also included the veterans of the U.S.S. Murphy, which brought Ibn Saud to Egypt.

Ammar Abdulhamid in senile Syria

On By Martin Kramer

Ammar Abdbulhamid, the Syrian reformer and dissident, is the subject of a profile in this morning’s New York Times. Abdulhamid is a courageous spokesman for progressive change in the Arab world, who’s also drawn attention to the obligation of governments to protect minorities a point on which Arab regimes historically have had an appalling record. Abdulhamid appeared together with me at The Washington Institute last December, and we shared a panel on the theme of what happens “When Minorities Rule.” Here’s a summary of his forthright remarks, devoted largely to Syria. (And here’s a summary and full text of my own presentation.)

Abdulhamid returned to Damascus last month (he had done a stint at the Saban Center), and he started a blog, here. It’s got exactly one entry, in which he reports that his travel has been restricted:

It’s been 20 days since our return to the Senile Country. A cold security reception at the airport set the tone of this homecoming, more or less, and culminated in a travel ban. Still, seeing the kids at the airport was absolutely rejuvenating.

The travel ban is not total, that is, I can still travel if I want, provided that I get a security clearance before I leave and report back upon my return.

Oh, of all the stupid things they could do? Did they really think they can put me on a leash? Did they think that I’d accept, that I’d cooperate? Well, they have another thing coming. I happen to be very much fond of the idea of staying at home at this stage and cutting down on travel time. I have proposals and articles to write, a team to enlarge, conferences to plan and people to hassle. This is going to be a productive year, a very productive year for all of us here.

Sandbox will track his adventures closely.

Update: Abdulhamid has made another blog entry, his second, this Sunday morning. Today he had a meeting with the Military Security Apparatus, and he goes back tomorrow. (The brigadier general was too busy to see him…)

Ivory Towers 101

On By Martin Kramer

I’m keenly interested in the way my book Ivory Towers on Sand is used in university-level courses on the Middle East. Here are two recent examples turned up by a quick search.

This past fall, Professor Rex Brynen, a political scientist at McGill University, assigned the book toward the end of his course on “Middle East Politics.” Brynen, who reviewed my book in the Middle East Journal (he didn’t like it), taught it alongside the 2003 Middle East Studies Association (MESA) presidential address by Lisa Anderson. Rex, I hope you did me justice. Syllabus here.

A fall course at the University of Arizona (headquarters of MESA) dealt with “Middle East Studies: Approaches, Themes and Controversies.” Professor Michael Bonine, a geographer, coordinated the course, which incorporated lectures by an array of faculty members from different departments. The syllabus mentions only one required reading, Ivory Towers, although other readings were to be assigned as the course progressed. The book probably loomed large toward the end of the semester, in two sessions on “Middle East Studies in Crisis?” (Is that really a question?) Syllabus here.

I don’t imagine I got much sympathy from the instructors in either course, but I commend them for making space for a dissenting view. If you assigned the book this past fall, or are using it this spring, send me the link. I might mention your course here, and your syllabus will become famous.