Will Kester, the author, book discussion site

Talking Points: Shifting Sands; A Clash of Cultures

In the book, I am trying to make several points that I wish to share with Americans.  Some will misinterpret what I say as sympathizing with the enemy, approving of terrorism, and blaming America for taking a stand against those who would kill us.  Nothing is further from the truth. 

I hesitate to use the “walk in my moccasins” expression, but I will.  I have walked the desert sands in sandals, with Arabs, Bedouins, friends.  I still don’t completely understand them, but there are things I do understand and wish to share. 

They are afraid of us, not of our military (and even less lately), but of our way of life--our threat to their way of life.  Americans are both proud of our influence on the rest of the world, and oblivious of our impact on the rest of the world.  We export our culture, our colas, our fast food, our music, and our lack of respect for traditional values—our traditional values and especially those that aren’t our traditional values. 

Many politicians are coming around to what I propose in this work of fiction, written years before I heard anyone expressing the idea.  The idea is that the Middle East needs to solve their problems regionally, engaging the regional members in conversations, support of peace initiatives, and building improved infrastructure for the people in the region.  The “Baker Report” and others propose we engage in diplomacy with Iran and Syria—I agree.  We find diplomacy somehow distasteful, recently, for some reason.  We prefer making demands and threatening those countries we don’t like, but we only make things worse when we do this. 

There has been a major shift in attitudes of the majority of Americans since I wrote the book, but the principal reason for writing it is as important now, as it was a few years ago.  We need to understand our relationship with the Middle East, our responsibility to the world, and exercise our power responsibly.  We need to respect ways that we don’t accept, and I’ll admit it’s hard to do, but it’s vital to our position, ourselves, and our security, now, more than ever before. 

In the book, I introduce the main character, whom I knew when we were young.  I fictionalize his adult life, and I hope he forgives me for what I did.  I put him in the middle of the clash of two cultures, Western, Christian, Republican extremism, Militant American—and Middle Eastern, Islamic, Radical, Militant, Traditional, Arabic cultures, the way of many generations before him, and his roots.  Saleh, the main character, travels to America to learn, returns to Saudi and is drawn into terrorism, despite his lack of support for their efforts.  He makes decisions about how to resolve the conflicts, based on his experiences, as we all make our decisions in life, based on our experiences. 

What I’m trying to do, is expand the experiences of my readers, through the book, instead of having to go to the Middle East and live that experience, but simply read about one man’s (fictional) life, and develop more understanding of the problem, and how to go forward, peacefully, thoughtfully, and hopefully.  I make Saleh become a negotiator, a diplomat, and a positive force in the Region, to make the point that we can change; we can use our experiences to improve the world.  His best diplomatic argument seems to work on both sides, as he reminds powerful world leaders that the decisions we make today will affect our children and our grandchildren.