Book Description

The Middleman is a fascinating look into the Middle East in the 1970’s: a time of great conflict precipitated by the 1973 war between Israel, Egypt and Syria, and the economic boom that created unprecedented wealth. These circumstances are the background for many of today’s Middle East crises and the missed opportunities to resolve them. Although many of the events in the story actually occurred, The Middleman is a fictional memoir centered on a Hassan Al Sawwaf, a flamboyant Arab financier, and his American lawyer. In this dynamic setting of enormous transactions and festering political conflicts, Al Sawwaf emerges as one of the wealthiest men in the world. Al Sawwaf hires Dan Quinlan to handle his legal affairs. Quinlan develops a close personal relationship with Al Sawwaf, becomes his chief executive, and finds himself in an endless drama of business crises and personal conflicts. Al Sawwaf wants to become the J.P. Morgan of the Middle East. In pursuing his goal, he meets a wealthy American hotelier, Arthur Landau, who is Jewish and has close ties to Israel. Al Sawwaf and Landau develop back channel communications between Israel and the Arab world to try to settle the 1973 conflict. This sets off complex maneuvering and political intrigue by the players. Then, Al Sawwaf comes under scrutiny from the U. S. Government for alleged connections to Watergate slush funds and corrupt business practices in Saudi Arabia. Biased U.S. prosecutors and politicians seek to discredit Al Sawwaf and the Royal Family. The U.S. media describes Al Sawwaf as a disreputable middleman and arm's dealer. Al Sawwaf believes Israel is behind these investigations. Subsequently, the U.S. indicts Al Sawwaf for assisting the President of the Phillipines in the purchase of some office buildings in New York. Conflict develops between Al Sawwaf and Quinlan because Al Sawwaf has ignores Quinlan’s advice. Quinlan has difficult choices. He wants to maintain a personal relationship with Al Sawwaf as his lawyer, but must resign as his chief executive. Quinlan believes he has failed Al Sawwaf because of the legal and business problems. Al Sawwaf relishes the opportunity to prove his innocence and the conspiracy against him, and does not see the impact of his indictment on his business and relationships.