Khalaf argues that historically internal grievances have been magnified or deflected to become the source of international conflict. From the beginning, he shows, foreign interventions have consistently exacerbated internal problems."--BOOK JACKET.
Annotation By providing a new framework for understanding Shi'ite national politics in Lebanon, Roschanack Shaery-Eisenlohr recasts the relationship between religion and nationalism in the Middle East
Lebanon is a country whose domestic politics have, even more than others in the region, been at the mercy of changes on the international stage. Having been under Ottoman and French rule in the nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries, the post-World War II era has seen Lebanon subjected to Israeli, Syrian and American interventions which have all threatened the county s stability as a state. Joseph Bayeh argues that it is this international dimension which holds the key to an in-depth understanding of the country. In support of this argument, Bayeh examines Lebanese history from its early days under the Ottomans to the present day in order to show how international shifts and conflicts have had their impact on Lebanon. With changes such as the fall of the Ottoman empire, the rise of US power after World War II, the end of the Cold War and the new focus on the region in the aftermath of 9/11, Lebanon has at various junctures been bolstered or undermined. Bayeh tracks all of this, offering insights into the workings of Lebanon s domestic politics which will appeal to researchers of the international relations of the Middle East and Lebanon s political history."
A thought-provoking revelation of the ways ordinary people—conquerors and conquered, imperialists and the colonized, Christians, Jews, and Muslims—think about war and peace. Filled with personal reflections from every corner of the globe, State Violence and the Right to Peace: An International Survey of the Views of Ordinary People is a masterful portrayal of how people from diverse cultures, religions, and experiences think about war and peace. Spanning four volumes, State Violence and the Right to Peace brings together the views of shopkeepers, day laborers, clerical workers, students, teachers, social workers, veterans, and others talking about governmental aggression, torture, and protesting acts of war. These views—from Europe, North America, South America, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia—are seen in the context of major historical battles, including the empire-building of Western European countries, the emergence and contraction of the Soviet Union, and the wars in the Middle East. As this remarkable resource shows, there are some surprising similarities in thinking about war and peace across nations and cultures—and some equally surprising cases where opinions diverge.
By the mid-twentieth century, youth movements around the globe ruled the streets. In Lebanon, young people in these groups attended lectures, sang songs, and participated in sporting events; their music tastes, clothing choices and routine activities shaped their identities. Yet scholars of modern Lebanon often focus exclusively on the sectarian makeup and violent behaviors of these socio-political groupings, obscuring the youth cultures that they forged. Using unique sources to highlight the daily lives of the young men and women of Lebanon's youth politics, Dylan Baun traces the political and cultural history of a diverse set of youth-centric organizations from the 1920s to 1950s to reveal how these youth movements played significant roles in the making of the modern Middle East. Outlining how youth movements established a distinct type of politics and populism, Winning Lebanon reveals that these groups both encouraged the political socialization of different types of youth, and, through their attempts to 'win' Lebanon - physically and metaphorically - around the 1958 War, helped produce sectarian violence.
Women in conflict zones face a wide range of violence: from physical and psychological trauma to political, economic and social disadvantage. And the sources of the violence are varied also: from the 'public' violence of the enemy to the more 'private' violence of the family. Maria Holt uses her research gathered in the Palestinian refugee camps of Lebanon and in the West Bank to look at the forms of violence suffered by women in the context of the wider conflict around them. Drawing on first-hand accounts of women who have either participated in, been victims of or bystanders to violence, Women and Conflict in the Middle East highlights the complex situation of these refugees, and explores how many of them become involved in resistance activities. It thus makes essential reading for students of the Israel-Palestine conflict as well as those interested in the gender dimension of conflict.