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X-WR-CALNAME:Book Launch: The King's Messenger: Prince Bandar bin Sult
	an and America's Tangled Relationship with Saudi Arabia in Washington 
	DC at Ronald Reagan Building &Int. Trade Ctr. - Eventful
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART:20081112T163000
DTEND:20081112T180000
DTSTAMP:20081221T112151Z
SUMMARY:Book Launch: The King's Messenger: Prince Bandar bin Sultan an
	d America's Tangled Relationship with Saudi Arabia
DESCRIPTION:  The Middle East Program held a book launch to honor Davi
	d Ottaway's latest book\, The King's Messenger: Prince Bandar bin Sult
	an and America's Tangled Relationship with Saudi Arabia. David Ottaway
	 is a Senior Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center and a former Investi
	gative and Special Projects Reporter for the Washington Post. The even
	t also featured Jean-François Seznec\, Visiting Associate Professor a
	t Georgetown University\, and Robert Vitalis\, Professor of Political 
	Science at the University of Pennsylvania\, who shared their thoughts 
	about the book.David Ottaway was working as a reporter for the Washing
	ton Post and was in a position to observe a U.S.-Saudi relationship th
	at began to change drastically with the Saudi-led oil boycott of 1973.
	 Launched in response to American support of Israel in the October War
	 of that year\, the boycott destroyed American illusions of Saudi depe
	ndence and led to the development of a complex two-way relationship\, 
	characterized by the -˜oil for security' formula and the colorful figu
	re of Prince Bandar bin Sultan\, Saudi Ambassador to the United States
	.  Ottaway's book focuses first on the sudden rise and slow descent of
	 Prince Bandar in the Washington D.C. political scene between 1978 and
	 2008\, and also addresses the substantive change in the nature of the
	 U.S.-Saudi relationship after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Ottaway arg
	ues that the deterioration of the relationship began primarily under t
	he Clinton administration and was greatly accelerated under George W. 
	Bush\, and that Prince Bandar's sporadic engagements and disengagement
	s with the United States acted as a barometer for the evolving U.S.-Sa
	udi relationship. The book cross-checks Prince Bandar's own opinion of
	 his contribution to this "special relationship" with that of American
	 officials\, as Ottaway remarked that in dealing with Prince Bandar "t
	here is hyperbole\, there are truths\, then there are half truths\, an
	d then there are non-truths." Robert Vitalis commended Ottaway for not
	 merely reproducing Prince Bandar's views but testing them\; calling t
	he author "the investigative reporter at his best." What Vitalis liked
	 best was that the book makes an argument\, one that is "bold and coun
	terintuitive\," though he cautioned that the lack of alternative expla
	nations of the U.S.-Saudi relationship makes it more difficult for the
	 reader to evaluate how pivotal Prince Bandar really was.Jean-Françoi
	s Seznec also praised Ottaway's work and argued that the most difficul
	t part of Prince Bandar's job was dealing with the events of 9/11\, wh
	ich led the United States to turn against Saudi Arabia. The complete l
	ack of popular support for America in the Kingdom revealed that the Sa
	udi policy had never been to develop a true relationship with the Unit
	ed States\, only the impression that such a relationship existed. Sezn
	ec explained that given this context\, Prince Bandar was nothing more 
	than an instrument used to amuse the Americans and ensure continued ar
	ms sales\, without influencing the social and political structure of S
	audi Arabia. 
LOCATION:Ronald Reagan Building &Int. Trade Ctr. @ 1300 Pennsylvania A
	venue NW Washington D C 2004, Washington, District of Columbia 20004 U
	nited States
SEQUENCE:1229858511
UID:E0-001-017098128-1
URL:http://eventful.com/E0-001-017098128-1
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