Politics & Current Events
Speaker of the House Tip O’Neill (1912-1994) is most closely associated with the truism “all politics is local.” One meaning of the observation is that politics must have a base of pragmatic neighborhood reality. It is not all theory; it is not all anticipation of demographics; it is not an imposition from above but an attention to grassroots. For years I resisted breaking out my political books to a page of their own because the topic seemed so ephemeral, so transitory. Well, what is the web but superb access to the ephemeral? I will try NOT to include too much history here or to stack the deck, so to speak, with partisan books. On the other hand, what is available is what is available — the only criteria is good writing, good sourcing, and some accordance with what my customers may be interested in. In that way, I am keeping it local, as per Speaker O’Neill. It will grow with time and a broadening definition of what is politics and what is a current event.
Princes and Thieves: Jared Kushner and Mohamed bin Zayed's Secret Plot to Remake the Middle East
Princes and Thieves: Jared Kushner and Mohamed bin Zayed's Secret Plot to Remake the Middle East
A groundbreaking exposé of the secret conspiracy between Jared Kushner, the UAE’s Mohamed bin Zayed (MBZ), and Saudi Arabia’s Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) to fund a hidden policy agenda, influence the Trump White House, and reshape the Middle East—from the author of the “remarkable” (James Risen, Pulitzer Prize winner) Code Over Country.
Two crown princes, MBZ and his junior partner MBS, have long wielded great power and unfathomable amounts of money to forge their states as new powers in the Middle East. But to execute on their ambitions, they needed partners—which they found in the wildly ambitious son-in-law of President Donald J. Trump, Jared Kushner; notorious former Blackwater CEO Erik Prince, who was gathering mercenary armies for rent; and a former CIA assassin, among other allies.
At the heart of this shocking story is a tenuous relationship with Israel to confront Iran and marginalize Palestine, and secrets the conspirators want to remain hidden, including bank accounts for Kushner’s use to advance his own agenda in the Middle East. The actions of MBZ and MBS have already resulted in a trail of disparate wreckage, both domestically and globally, encompassing interference in US presidential elections, Israel’s war of annihilation in Gaza, and the Israeli-US war with Iran. These consequences beg the question: Did the president himself know what was happening in his own White House?
Impeccably reported in his signature “searing and unvarnished” (Jeremy Scahill, New York Times bestselling author) voice, Matthew Cole reveals these secret and dangerous relationships and the damage they have wrought to our democracy, providing an urgent and startling understanding of our recent history and foreign policy.