The Unmaking of the Middle East
The Unmaking of the Middle East

Author: Jeremy Salt

Publisher: Univ of California Press

Published: 2008-07-09

Total Pages: 479

ISBN-13: 0520255518

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"Devastating in its portrayal of the depths to which the West (France, Britain, and the US especially) sank in conquering the Middle East. Starting off with Huntington's quote about 'Islam's bloody borders,' Salt argues that it was the West that made these borders bloody, though in the process it had no trouble finding native accomplices who helped, wittingly or not."—Mehran Kamrava, author of The Modern Middle East "This will be of much use to general readers who are ill-served by the preponderance of books in the marketplace that explain political events by recourse to stereotypical representations of 'Arabs' and 'Islam,' while neglecting important historical events that define current political and social reality in the region. None of the general history books on the Middle East offer comparable comprehensive details."—Joseph A. Massad, author of Desiring Arabs "This excellent book is comprehensive in scope, scholarly and yet highly readable. Focusing on the damaging role of western policy in the Middle East, well exemplified in the current debacle in Iraq. It will be essential reading for students and historians of the region."—Ghada Karmi, author of Married to Another Man: Israel's Dilemma in Palestine "Salt makes it abundantly clear that when it comes to the Middle East, 'the West' talks idealistically and acts brutally. This excellent book should be required reading for future American policymakers thinking about invading another Arab or Islamic country."—John J. Mearsheimer, R. Wendell Harrison Distinguished Service Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago

Nationalism, Zionism and ethnic mobilization of the Jews in 1900 and beyond [electronic resource]
Nationalism, Zionism and ethnic mobilization of the Jews in 1900 and beyond [electronic resource]

Author: Michael Berkowitz

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2004

Total Pages: 338

ISBN-13: 9789004131842

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European, US, and Israeli historians and social scientists try to skirt the political controversies involved in the origin of Israel to offer academic perspectives on Jewish nationalism, of which Zionism comprised a prominent alternative beginning in the late 19th century. They look in particular at aspects that have been undervalued in examining J.

The Palestinian People
The Palestinian People

Author: Baruch Kimmerling

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 2009-07-01

Total Pages: 610

ISBN-13: 9780674039599

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In a timely reminder of how the past informs the present, Baruch Kimmerling and Joel Migdal offer an authoritative account of the history of the Palestinian people from their modern origins to the Oslo peace process and beyond. Palestinians struggled to create themselves as a people from the first revolt of the Arabs in Palestine in 1834 through the British Mandate to the impact of Zionism and the founding of Israel. Their relationship with the Jewish people and the State of Israel has been fundamental in shaping that identity, and today Palestinians find themselves again at a critical juncture. In the 1990s cornerstones for peace were laid for eventual Palestinian-Israeli coexistence, including mutual acceptance, the renunciation of violence as a permanent strategy, and the establishment for the first time of Palestinian self-government. But the dawn of the twenty-first century saw a reversion to unmitigated hatred and mutual demonization. By mid-2002 the brutal violence of the Intifada had crippled Palestine's fledgling political institutions and threatened the fragile social cohesion painstakingly constructed after 1967. Kimmerling and Migdal unravel what went right--and what went wrong--in the Oslo peace process, and what lessons we can draw about the forces that help to shape a people. The authors present a balanced, insightful, and sobering look at the realities of creating peace in the Middle East.