The Much Too Promised Land by Aaron David Miller

About the Book

For nearly twenty years, Aaron David Miller has played a central role in U.S. efforts to broker Arab-Israeli peace. His position as an advisor to presidents, secretaries of state, and national security advisors has given him a unique perspective on a problem that American leaders have wrestled with for more than half a century. Read more >

About the Author

Aaron David Miller

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Aaron David Miller and
TMTPL in the News

January 13, 2009: The Today Show
Clinton Faces Colleagues At Hearing

January 13, 2009: New York Times
No Shortage of Expert Advice on Mideast for Clinton

January 9, 2009: Bill Moyers Journal
Bill Moyers reflects on Middle East violence

January 3, 2009: Newsweek
If Obama Is Serious

January 1, 2009: New York Times
Clinton, Familiar With Pitfalls of Mideast Politics, May Face Early Test in Gaza

January 1, 2009: CNN
New secretary of state inherits unpredictable world

December 31, 2008: CNN: Lou Dobbs
Peace possible?

December 31, 2008: CNN
Obama inherits century-old headache in Mideast

December 30, 2008: The Wall Street Journal
Israel Presses Gaza Attacks As Hamas Steps Up Response

December 30, 2008: Politico
Conflict upends Obama's plans

December 29, 2008: Talk of the Nation on NPR
As Violence In Gaza Worsens, What Can Obama Do?

December 29, 2008: The Huffington Post
Progressive Jews See Potential Conflict With Obama Over Gaza

December 29, 2008: USA Today
Amid Gaza violence, a new task for Obama

December 28, 2008: The Wall Street Journal
Obama's Mideast Plans Face New Complications

December 28, 2008: USA Today
Gaza airstrikes at a glance

December 28, 2008: Politico
Israel strike may shift Obama plan

November 26, 2008: Washington Post
Start With Syria

November 23, 2008: Washington Post
Some in Arab World Wary of Clinton

November 21, 2008: NPR's All Things Considered
Clinton, Obama Need A Unified Front

November 18, 2008: New York Times
Madam Secretary?

November 15, 2008: Los Angeles Times
State of Mind

Apr 28, 2008: Newsweek
Prisoners of Politics

April 26, 2008: NPR’s Weekend Edition
Abbas Says Peace Deal This Year Unlikely

April 03, 2008: NPR’s On Point
Aaron David Miller and Mideast Peace

March 27, 2008: NPR’s Talk of the Nation
Arab-Israeli Peace: A 'Much Too Promised Land'?

March 9, 2008: Los Angeles Times
The Israel litmus test

Mar 6, 2008: Newsweek
Looking for Mr. Right

March 3, 2008: The New York Times
Gaza Pitfalls in Every Path

November 19, 2009

Aaron David Miller talks with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour about the prospects for peace talks in the Middle East.


Click here to watch the video.


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January 13, 2009

Confirming Clinton: The Today Show talks to Aaron David Miller

In report by Andrea Mitchell discussing Hillary Clinton’s confirmation hearing on this morning’s Today Show, Aaron David Miller discusses the need for unanimity between the potential Secretary of State and President-elect Barack Obama in their approach to diplomatic problems in the Middle East.

If you can’t see the video above,
Click here to watch the video.

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TAGS: Aaron David Miller, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Today Show, video

January 13, 2009

No Shortage of Expert Advice on Mideast for Clinton

The New York Times interviewed Aaron David Miller in an article this morning, focusing on the experts who have been dispensing advice as to how Hillary Clinton should handle the Arab-Israeli conflict.


“We’ve allowed our special relationship with Israel to become exclusive,” said Aaron David Miller, who advised several administrations on the Middle East. “We acquiesced in too many bad Israeli ideas; we road-tested every idea with Israel first.”

Read the full article here.

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TAGS: Aaron David Miller, Hillary Clinton, New York Times

January 12, 2009

Bill Moyers recommends The Much Too Promised Land

On the January 9th broadcast of Bill Moyers Journal, the host reflected on the violence in the Middle East. During his video essay, Moyers recommended reading Aaron David Miller’s The Much Too Promised Land, as well as his recent Newsweek op-ed, in order to get a better understanding of how the conflict in the Middle East can be turned towards peace.


Click here to watch Bill Moyer’s video essay from January 9th.

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TAGS: Bill Moyers, Israel, Palestine, video, violence

January 5, 2009

Aaron David Miller featured on CNN

Watch the video of Aaron David Miller talking to Don Lemon about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on CNN this morning.

Also, Aaron was recently featured on Lou Dobbs Tonight, discussing the possibility of peace in the Middle East.

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TAGS: Aaron David Miller, CNN, Lou Dobbs, video

January 5, 2009

NPR: As Violence In Gaza Worsens, What Can Obama Do?

Talk of the Nation host Neal Conan recently discussed that question with Aaron David Miller, Itamar Rabinovich (former Israeli ambassador to the U.S.), and Rami Khouri (editor-at-large of the Daily Star newspaper).

Click here to listen to the discussion.

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TAGS: Aaron David Miller, Itamar Rabinovich, NPR, Rami Khouri, Talk of the Nation

January 5, 2009

If Obama Is Serious…

You can read a brand new op-ed from Aaron David Miller, titled “If Obama Is Serious,” in the January 12, 2009 issue of Newsweek. Here is an excerpt:


“Don’t get me wrong. Barack Obama—as every other U.S. president before him—will protect the special relationship with Israel. But the days of America’s exclusive ties to Israel may be coming to an end. Despite efforts to sound reassuring during the campaign, the new administration will have to be tough, much tougher than either Bill Clinton or George W. Bush were, if it’s serious about Arab-Israeli peacemaking.”

Read the rest of the op-ed here.

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TAGS: Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Israel, Newsweek, Palestine

January 5, 2009

Commentary: Obama inherits century-old headache in Mideast

Here is an excerpt from Aaron David Miller’s special commentary on CNN.com:


“In the torturous history of the Arab-Israeli conflict, sometimes violence, war and insurgency have set the stage for diplomatic breakthroughs and serious American diplomacy.

Such was the case in both the October 1973 war and the first Persian Gulf conflict, which led eventually to an Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty in March 1979 and to a peace conference in Madrid, Spain, in October 1991. But then-Secretaries of State Henry Kissinger and James Baker, backed up by their presidents, had strong Arab and Israeli leaders and doable deals.

This time around, Obama may not be so fortunate. When the killing stops and the grieving is over, the same problems that have made the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations so tough will remain.”


You can read the rest of the article here.

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TAGS: Barack Obama, CNN, Israel, Palestine

January 5, 2009

New Interviews with Aaron David Miller about the conflict in Gaza

Aaron David Miller has been featured in several recent articles discussing the Israeli operation in Gaza, Middle East diplomacy, and how the conflict will affect President-elect Barack Obama’s plans.

January 1, 2009: New York Times
Clinton, Familiar With Pitfalls of Mideast Politics, May Face Early Test in Gaza

January 1, 2009: CNN
New secretary of state inherits unpredictable world

December 30, 2008: The Wall Street Journal
Israel Presses Gaza Attacks As Hamas Steps Up Response

December 30, 2008: Politico
Conflict upends Obama’s plans

December 29, 2008: Talk of the Nation on NPR
As Violence In Gaza Worsens, What Can Obama Do?

December 29, 2008: The Huffington Post
Progressive Jews See Potential Conflict With Obama Over Gaza

December 29, 2008: USA Today
Amid Gaza violence, a new task for Obama

December 28, 2008: The Wall Street Journal
Obama’s Mideast Plans Face New Complications

December 28, 2008: USA Today
Gaza airstrikes at a glance

December 28, 2008: Politico
Israel strike may shift Obama plan

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TAGS: Aaron David Miller, Barack Obama, CNN, Hamas, Hillary Clinton, Huffington Post, Israel, New York Times, NPR, Palestine, Politico, Talk of the Nation, USA Today, Wall Street Journal

December 2, 2008

Team of Rivals — A Prescription for Disaster

As the chattering classes pick up the idea of a team of rivals and apply it to Obama’s approach to his own cabinet, one can only wonder and despair. It may have worked for Lincoln (even here you need to wonder); it cannot work for Obama. This isn’t The Godfather where Michael Corleone says to a guy he’ll later have killed that you need to keep your friends close but your enemies closer, it’s American foreign policy after all. What Obama needs is a team of partners interested in his and America’s success. I suspect that’s what he’ll get. Even Hillary Clinton — whatever her own ambitions — understands that her success as secretary of state means staying close to the president. Without his authority and the perception among America’s friends and enemies that she speaks for him and he trusts her, she won’t stand a chance of becoming a consequential secretary of state. If there’s a place for dissent and dissension, it’s in the quiet internal deliberations of government where smart independent cabinet advisers speak truth to the president. The policy is then implemented seamlessly. Otherwise we’ll end up with “as the world turns” and a soap opera like approach that will mean hanging a closed for the season sign on America’s foreign policy.

- Aaron David Miller

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TAGS: Barack Obama, cabinet posts, foreign policy, Hillary Clinton, secretary of state

December 2, 2008

Advice for the President-elect and his Secretary of State: “Start with Syria”

From Miller’s The Washington Post op-ed that’s causing a stir:

“President-elect Barack Obama will be bombarded with recommendations about how to approach Arab-Israeli peacemaking. One piece of advice he should not take is to make Israeli-Palestinian peace his top priority. There’s no deal there. But there is a real opportunity for an Israeli-Syrian agreement, and Obama should go for it.”

Read the entire piece here.

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December 2, 2008

With the appointment of Senator Clinton, and the Obama administration’s countdown to the inauguration, expert Miller is in the news!

See his op-ed in the International Herald Tribune from 11/30/08:
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/11/26/opinion/edmiller.php


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November 25, 2008

Secretary of State Qualities? News media asks Miller what it takes to fill the role.

As buzz abounds that Hillary Clinton will be named Secretary of State by President-Elect Obama, news sources have turned this week to Aaron David Miller, who has advised six secretaries of state.

In Thomas Friedman’s Op-Ed New York Times piece — “It takes America’s friends and adversaries about five minutes to figure out who really speaks for the White House and who doesn’t,” wrote Aaron D. Miller, a former State Department Middle East adviser and the author of The Much Too Promised Land. “If a secretary of state falls into the latter category, he or she will have little chance of doing effective diplomacy on a big issue. More likely, they’ll be played like a finely tuned violin or simply taken for granted.”

On NPR’s “All Things Considered” — “Miller says that the most effective secretaries have to be close to the president they serve and they have to be good negotiators….’When a secretary of state walks in a room, you want people on the edge of their seats, and [Hillary Clinton] clearly has that,’ Miller says. ‘I mean, she fills up and lights up a room, there’s no question about it. And second, I believe she’s tough enough.’”

In the Washington Post — “[Clinton] has a strong physical and intellectual presence that she can project, and she’s plenty tough…. What we don’t know is: Does she have the negotiator’s mind-set? And we know she doesn’t yet have the kind of trust and confidence of the president that’s critically important.”

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TAGS: All Things Considered, Hillary Clinton, New York Times, NPR, secretary of state, Thomas Friedman, Washington Post

November 18, 2008

Further comment on the Los Angeles Times article from November 15, 2008.

As the rumors swirl faster regarding the possibility of Hillary Clinton as America’s 67th Secretary of State, the question emerges: does she possess the four qualities I argue in my LA Times piece are essential for real effectiveness: persona, close relationship, toughness/deviousness, and the negotiator’s mindset? She’s clearly got two for sure - a larger than life persona with a capacity to project a physical and intellectual star quality; and a certain toughness; (actually she’s probably tougher than her husband). What she lacks is a close relationship with the president elect and how she would fare in the middle of a crisis or negotiation, fact is Hillary Clinton represents the best of a weak field of potential Secretaries of State. It’s an intriguing choice that could redound favorably to obama and american foreign policy.

Read my L.A. Times article here.

- Aaron David Miller

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TAGS: Hillary Clinton, Los Angeles Times, secretary of state

November 18, 2008

A new Los Angeles Times op-ed

Aaron David Miller recently contributed a new opinion piece titled “State of Mind” to the Los Angeles Times. In the op-ed, Aaron lays out the four important qualities necessary to make a successful and effective secretary of State.

“In the last 30 years, I believe we’ve had only two truly consequential secretaries of State. James A. Baker III (whom I worked for and admired) and Henry A. Kissinger (who predated me), with all their imperfections and detractors (and there are many), stand out well above the others. They had different personalities, confronted different circumstances and succeeded and failed in different ways. But they embodied four important qualities that helped them succeed…”

Read the rest of the op-ed here.

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TAGS: Egypt, George H.W. Bush, Hafez Assad, Henry Kissinger, Israel, James A. Baker III, Los Angeles Times, op-ed, secretary of state, Syria, Yitzhak Shamir

November 3, 2008

Inside the Book: The Author’s Tour

Explore THE MUCH TOO PROMISED LAND with author Aaron David Miller in a rare look at the creation of this work. Listen to exclusive commentary by the author, enhanced with actual audio-excerpts from his interviews with the many men and women whose experiences enrich THE MUCH TOO PROMISED LAND. Hear exclusive interviews with the key players in the Middle East peace negotiation process from the four decades including Yossi Ben-Aharon, Madeleine Albright, Richard Armitage, James Baker, Shlomo Ben-Ami, George Herbert Walker Bush, Jimmy Carter, Abe Foxman, Avi Gil, Chuck Hagel, Efraim Halevy, Malcolm Hoenlein, Henry Kissinger, Walter Mondale, Colin Powell, Yasser Abd Rabbo, Muhammad Rashid, Condoleezza Rice, George Salem, Harold Saunders, John Sununu, Sr., George Tenet, Anthony Zinni, and Dr. James Zogby.

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TAGS: Abe Foxman, Anthony Zinni, Avi Gil, Chuck Hagel, Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice, Dr. James Zogby, Efraim Halevy, George Herbert Walker Bush, George Salem, George Tenet, Harold Saunders, Henry Kissinger, Inside the Book Audio Tour, James Baker, Jimmy Carter, John Sununu, Madeleine Albright, Malcolm Hoenlein, Muhammad Rashid, Richard Armitage, Shlomo Ben-Ami, Sr., Walter Mondale, Yasser Abd Rabbo, Yossi Ben-Aharon