Why “A promised Land” Obama’s Book

It is well known that the Egyptian people have a successful revolution back on 25th January 2011, or at least it was successful back then; as a result, the Egyptian had the first-ever democratic election over their history, as Egyptian we had or at least I had a dream, a hope thinking everything will change to become better, the Egyptian people deserve a better life, better education, they did not ask for much, just the right to have a normal life, yet everything collapsed, the old regime controlled the streets again not only that it back worse than before, it became very ugly.

 

 

What is the connection or the relation between Obama’s book and what I just have said!  During this time Barack Obama was the president of the United States, and I think through these pages I might understand or get another image of what happened. Maybe I understand how things start and how it ended. And after a little glance, it actually says nothing meanwhile it opens the doors to research and go back to the articles that have been written during this time.

In his article “Why Egypt Matter to the US” back on July 05, 2013, Nicholas Burns, has listed the following reasons:

  • The fate of the Egyptian revolution will have a decisive impact on many of the other countries whose stability and future is very much hanging in the balance two and a half years after the start of the Arab revolutions.
  • Washington cannot focus its energies on all 22 Arab states simultaneously, and Egypt should be the overwhelming priority. That is one reason why staying involved in Egypt, making a substantial increase in American economic aid, and resolving to make a much greater effort to support democratic forces there is so important.
  • Events in Egypt and the continued challenges of the bloody civil war in Syria, the long-standing Israeli-Palestinian struggle, and a recalcitrant Iran mean the US will be more occupied on a daily basis with the problems of the Middle East than any other region for at least the rest of the decade — and probably well beyond. America’s vital interests are still very much on the line there. The region’s poverty, instability, energy resources, growing Shia-Sunni divide, and revolutionary ferment all point to a continuing American preoccupation. Any dream of a sharp shift of American attention away from the Middle East is illusory.
  • the US would be smart to maintain a strong link to the major power centers in Egyptian politics, especially the military. To ensure a continued peace between Egypt and Israel — one of the most important and enduring of all-American interests — US officials will need to continue to cultivate and work closely with the Egyptian military, one of the few institutions in Egypt that are still effective in this revolutionary era.
  • President Barack Obama will face, as he did in pushing Mubarak from power in early 2011, another complex juggling act in balancing competing American interests in the weeks ahead. On the one hand, he will have to secure the concrete security priorities — peace with Israel, Iran, and terrorism — and on the other to stay true to the democratic ideals that have always been important to Americans and their role in the world. Maintaining a close, working relationship with Egypt’s generals is the best way to secure our concrete interests
  • President Obama clearly recognizes this dilemma. He will not be the first or last American president to be challenged by a struggle between our principles and our concrete interests. But he will surely have to confront again this basic choice in deciding how best to work with Egypt.

Going back to the book itself and before I go through the book, I would have to admit the title is very interesting and whoever comes up with this title is a genius.  “A promised Land” some people at the first glans might see it “The Promised Land” did he meant to make this confusion or it is the real meaning of “A promised Land” who gives the promise and to who! I will assume it is a promise to the American people, yet who has the power to give that promise.

Using gray color for the cover is another great choice, it makes the reader think, should I pay more attention to what’s in between the lines! Did he reveal all that he has! Or there are more secrets to come and might be buried forever.

Second, this is not the first book that been authored by Obama, he wrote other books:

The book is containing 751 pages, 27 chapters, and divided into seven parts as follow:

  • Part One: The Bet
  • Part Two: Yes, We Can
  • Part Three: Renegade
  • Part Four: The Good Fight
  • Part Five: The World as It Is
  • Part Six: In the Barrel
  • Part Seven: On the High Wire

Cairo has been mentioned on page 363, under a good title “The Greater Cairo” part four: The Good Fight, “metropolitan area contained than sixteen million people. We did not see any of them on the following day’s drive from the airport. The famously chaotic streets were empty for miles. Save for police officers posted everywhere, a testimony to the extraordinary grip Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak held on his country and the fact that an American president was a tempting target for local extremist groups. “In the following page, he added, “Mubarak never bothered to reform his country’s stagnant economy, which now left a generation of disaffected young Egyptian unable to find work.” Page 364

Then Obama makes fun of Mubarak accent “Speaking accented but passable English, Mubarak politely deflected my concern insisting that his security service targeted only Islamic extremists and that the Egyptian public strongly supported his firm approach. “page 365

Obama did talk about the Egyptian revolution without any details as a regular expected event page 642, and here is a good part “I’d brought up the possibility that the protests that had begun in Tunisia might spread to his own country. Mubarak had dismissed it, explaining that “Egypt is not Tunisia” He’d assured me that any protest against his government would quickly di down. Page 643  

My own comment “wow”

One of the best statements ever that come in A Promised Land. Obama’s Book page 643 talking about the Egyptian revolution on Jan 25, 2011 “If I were an Egyptian in my twenties. I‘d probably be out there with them “ he means at Tahrir Square.

Mubarak’s name  was mentioned again on page 691, as a joke, he did not mean the Egyptian president back then He was talking about himself as a joke when they named him “Tim ben Laden Pawlenty”  I will quote “ They’d come up with an inspires by suggesting that Tim Pawlenty, the former Republican  governor of Minnesota, who was exploring a run for president, had been hiding the fact that his full name was actually “ Tim ben Laden Pawlenty” I asked favs to change “ben Laden” to “Hosni” suggesting that given Mubarak’s recent turn in the news. “page 691,

As mentioned before Obama, avoided any talk about The Arab Spring details in this book.

The middle-east mentioned in the last part, “On the Wire” interesting title as always; however, if we go back to the book this part started with page 676 and ended with page 701 which I believe it is very short and summery of the summery, considering how important and how many events happened in the middle east! If we only record the event titles, I will be longer than this. What this means Obama releveled nothing about this area. And it will remain a dilemma and secret.

This wasn’t the only part that been summarized by Obama, ignored most of the foreign affairs, or we can say avoided to talk about any relationship between The United States and any other country, he just mentions them even china takes a few lines which are understandable.

Yet, he gives a few pages talking about Osama ben Laden. hunting operation as a credit for him and the team behind the operation.

That was a quick glance on the book, I can say Obama tried to show who he is as a person, the husband, the father, and the caring man, he is connected to his family, yet the book doesn’t give any details. I was hoping to understand anything about the Arab Spring which he avoided. I will read it again in detail.