Our Last Best Chance
The Pursuit of Peace in a Time of Peril
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Our Last Best Chance
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Narrateur(s):
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Nadim Sawalha
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Auteur(s):
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King Abdullah II of Jordan
À propos de cet audio
A news-breaking memoir that tackles head-on the toughest challenge in the world today.
When a dying King Hussein shocked the world by picking his son rather than his brother, the longtime crown prince, to be the next king of Jordan, no one was more surprised than the young head of Special Operations, who discovered his life was in for a major upheaval.
This is the inspirational story of a young prince who went to boarding school in America and military academy in Britain and grew up believing he would be a soldier. Back home, he hunted down terrorists and modernized Jordan's Special Forces. Then, suddenly, he found himself king. Together with his wife, Queen Rania, he transformed what it meant to be a monarch, going undercover to escape the bubble of the court while she became the Muslim world's most passionate advocate of women's rights.
In this exceptionally candid memoir, King Abdullah tackles the single toughest issue he faces head-on - how to solve the Israeli-Palestinian standoff - and reveals himself to be an invaluable intermediary between America and the Arab world. He writes about the impact of the Iraq war on his neighborhood and how best to tackle Iran's nuclear ambitions.
Why would a sitting head of state choose to write about the most explosive issues he faces? King Abdullah does so now because he believes we face a moment of truth: a last chance for peace in the Middle East. The prize is enormous; the cost of failure far greater than we dare imagine.
©2011 King Abdullah II of Jordan (P)2011 PenguinWhat I appreciated most is how this memoir opens the door to the complex politics usually hidden behind closed rooms. For Western audiences especially, it offers a deeper understanding of Jordan’s crucial and often under-recognized role in the region’s peace process.
King Abdullah’s personal storytelling also stood out: genuine, thoughtful, and grounded in cultural balance. His reflections on being raised and mentored by King Hussein give a touching look at leadership as responsibility, not power.
As a Jordanian born in the ’80s who lived through much of this history, many chapters brought strong emotions: sadness remembering King Hussein’s passing, anger recalling the Amman bombings of 2005, and also pride and hope when he spoke of Jordanians, our kindness, hospitality, and the Nashama spirit that defines us.
I was even surprised at moments, such as the positive remarks about George W. Bush, not what many would expect given the public perception of his foreign policies, but it added honesty and nuance to the narrative.
The only drawback for me was the narration. As a native Arabic speaker, mispronunciations, like saying “Muzlims” instead of “Muslims”, and some tonal choices made certain passages feel less authentic than they deserved. The content is a 5/5, but the performance felt more like a 3/5.
I highly recommend this book to anyone wanting to better understand the history, present reality, and internal challenges of the Middle East and its relationship with the Western world. A compelling, emotional, and essential listen.
p.s. since this this book’s goal is to talk about our chance for peace in the region, I’m not going to mention or rate the other areas like education in Jordan and similar topics.
Powerful, and still urgently relevant
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