Does Iraq have a legitimate claim to Kuwait? What has caused the hostility between the Arabs and the Israelis? What was the role of the United Nations in the past with regard to Middle East problems? What role can it play in the future? What are the United States' interests in the Middle East? What is Australia's interest? How can peace and stability be brought to the region?
These are some of the questions that the Gulf war has brought sharply into focus. The Left Book Club invited Malcolm Booker to present his response to these questions in a pamphlet, which will widen and inform the discussion. Starting with a summary of Middle East history from earliest times to events leading up to the war, he goes on to make some proposals for a just peace for the future. Throughout he presents the facts with authority and compassion.
Malcolm Booker was private secretary to W. M. Hughes in the early years of World War II. He was a member of the Australian diplomatic service from 1941 to 1977, for much of that time with a special interest in the United Nations. In 1945 he was attached, as political secretary, to the Australian Military Mission to Germany and in the following two years was closely involved in the movement of Jewish refugees to Australia from Germany and the countries of Eastern Europe. His last appointment was as Australian Ambassador to Yugoslavia, Romania and Bulgaria. Since his retirement he has been writing on current affairs.
