Egypt and the Game of Terror

About the Book

Come with Scott Parker, America's leading expert on the Arab Psyche, as he leads you through the murky world of Islamic extremism in his search for the soul of Egypt. Along the way, he is forced to serve as an intermediary between the American Embassy in Cairo and the Muslim Brotherhood, the world's largest Islamic fundamentalist group. To the dismay of both, he uses this unwelcome role to pursue his own ideas for fighting terror and extremism with curious and unpredictable results.

If Scott glories in the Egyptian environment, his wife, Constance, does not. She finds Egypt abhorrent, the Embassy parties boring, and her husband remote. Lonely and longing for the simple purity of her rural Nebraska childhood, she throws herself into Christian feminism with the help of Gloria Goldensickle, an Israeli psychoanalyst who dreams of peace through love.

Scott's journey provides the reader with an insider's view of Islamic extremism, Arab security services, and American embassies abroad. Readers should also find the clash of American and Middle Eastern customs to be amusing if not frightening.

About the Author

Monte Palmer is former director of the Middle East Centers at the American University of Beirut and Florida State University. He has also served as a consultant for The World Bank, the US government, and various Arab governments. Recent books include Islamic Extremism and The Politics of the Middle East. Visit the author?s web page at www.monte.palmer.middle.east.googlepages.com.