Edition |
1st ed. |
Description |
x, 480 p., [16] p. of plates : ill. (some col.) ; 24 cm. |
Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (p. [441]-467) and index. |
Contents |
Who is Prince Bandar? -- Fighter pilot Prince -- The tip of the iceberg -- The years of intrigue -- Bandar the arms dealer -- A new world order -- The gulf explodes -- Peace in the Middle East -- The invisible ambassador -- 9/11 cataclysm -- Friends and the traveling court -- The private Prince Bandar -- Bandar: the enigma revealed -- A new life. |
Summary |
As Ambassador, Bandar worked with President Reagan and CIA Director Bill Casey to win the Cold War with Saudi petrodollars. Seemingly in the thick of some of the most important world events of the last twenty-five years, Bandar played a key role in the Iran-Contra affair; convinced President Gorbachev to withdraw the Soviet military from Afghanistan; and negotiated an end to the Iran-Iraq war among others. A Machiavellian manipulator and a master tactician on the global chessboard, Bandar has had unmatched access to the Oval Office. George H. W. Bush took The Prince and his family fishing; Nancy Reagan used him to convey messages to her husband's Cabinet; Colin Powell would drop by to play racquetball. During the Gulf War, Prince Bandar even became a de facto member of the National Security Council. In this biography, William Simpson pulls back the curtain for the first time on the fascinating and startling life of a man of contradictions - equally at home in the royal palace in Riyadh as on the ski slopes of Aspen or playing hardball politics with international heads of state; a super-wealthy playboy yet a devoted family man; an expert in subterfuge and misdirection, yet a straight talker trusted the world over; a man of peace and yet the biggest arms dealer in the world - who emerged throughout the 1980s and '90s as one of the driving forces behind American foreign policy. Book jacket. |
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Also includes information on Crown Prince Abdullah, Al-Yamamah, Arab-Israeli peace process, Yasser Arafat, James Baker, King Fahd, Gulf War, Sadam Hussein, Israel/Palestinian issue, Khobar bombing, Lockerbie Affair, Madrid Peace Conference, 9/11 investigation, etc. |
Subject |
Bin Sultan, Bandar, Prince.
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Princes -- Saudi Arabia -- Biography.
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Ambassadors -- Saudi Arabia -- Biography.
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Saudi Arabia -- Foreign relations -- United States.
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United States -- Foreign relations -- Saudi Arabia.
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ISBN |
0060899867 |
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9780060899868 |
Standard No. |
YDXCP 2420004 |
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