Overview

Lebanon is an exceptionally misunderstood country; its religious politics are typically misrepresented and denigrated in Western political commentary. Politics and War in Lebanon offers a lucid examination of Lebanese society and politics. Mordechai Nisan examines Lebanon in its own termson its own cultural turf. He then points to the causes of political disintegration in 1975 and explores the capacity of Lebanon to recover and retain its unique national poise. Avoiding disorienting Western stereotypes, Nisan presents Lebanon in its own native frame of reference, as a multi-ethnic country that operates according to its immutable and enigmatic political forms. Lebanon is different from other Arab countries, as demonstrated through its very complex electoral system, its tradition of cross-elite cooperation, and its special sense of Lebanese national identity that differentiates it from its overbearing Syrian neighbor. Nisan explores intra-Maronite Christian feuds, identifies Syria's occupation strategy, analyzes the violence of the Palestinians, and studies Israel's failed policy strategy and the role of Hezbollah in the Lebanese power equation. Lebanon is caught between its special historical identity as a country ofpoise, creativity, and liberty and the interminable warfare in the streets and villages of the country. Although its future appears dim, its resilience enabled it to prevail in the past, and may yet continue to do so.

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9781412856676

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Reviews

Mordechai Nisan's book Politics and War in Lebanon is a fascinating research as much as a brilliant analysis of one of almost unfamiliar states, though a much important one, Lebanon. . . . Nisan is a famous researcher whose accurate and well-balanced analysis of Lebanon gives him a special unique perspective in elaborating Lebanon's reality. . . . As Nisan analyzes so succinctly, perhaps for the first time, the political breakdown of Lebanon in 1975, and the descent into war, was more a function of external intruders than domestic acrimony. . . . The content is well-balanced and organized with the analysis of the main players, and the bibliography is rich and instructive. . . . I highly recommend the publication of this book and commend Transaction Publishers for the publication of this important book, which no doubt will be an important layer in the study of this turbulent anarchic region of the Middle East. --David Bukay, University of Haifa, Israel Few can write about modern Lebanon with Mordechai Nisan's authority, sensitivity, perspicacity, and literary charm. The Lebanese ought to blush that it wasn't one of their own parsing Lebanon with the nuance, erudition, and discernment of Politics and War in Lebanon. A book of great relevance and profundity, Nisan's work is a compendium of crucial importance to practitioners and students seeking to understand the complexities of the Middle East (of which Lebanon is a microcosmic representation) beyond the soothing jingles, the normative platitudes, and the prevailing oversimplifications of traditional literature. Lebanon's present and future remain uncertain in Nisan's telling. But with his keen historian's eye, his masterful storytelling, and his insider's intimacy, Lebanon's history is safe in the hands of this honorary doyen of modern Lebanese history. --Franck Salameh, Boston College, Senior Editor in Chief, The Levantine Review

"-Fascinating research . . . . As Nisan analyzes so succinctly, perhaps for the first time, the political breakdown of Lebanon in 1975 and the descent into war. . . . The content is well-balanced and organized with the analysis of the main players, and the bibliography is rich and instructive. . . . I highly recommend this important book, which no doubt will be an important layer in the study of this turbulent anarchic region of the Middle East.- --David Bukay, University of Haifa, Israel -Few can write about modern Lebanon with Mordechai Nisan's authority, sensitivity, perspicacity, and literary charm. The Lebanese ought to blush that it wasn't one of their own parsing Lebanon with the nuance, erudition, and discernment of Politics and War in Lebanon. A book of great relevance and profundity, Nisan's work is a compendium of crucial importance to practitioners and students seeking to understand the complexities of the Middle East (of which Lebanon is a microcosmic representation) beyond the soothing jingles, the normative platitudes, and the prevailing oversimplifications of traditional literature. Lebanon's present and future remain uncertain in Nisan's telling. But with his keen historian's eye, his masterful storytelling, and his insider's intimacy, Lebanon's history is safe in the hands of this honorary doyen of modern Lebanese history.- --Franck Salameh, Boston College, Senior Editor in Chief, The Levantine Review ""Fascinating research . . . . As Nisan analyzes so succinctly, perhaps for the first time, the political breakdown of Lebanon in 1975 and the descent into war. . . . The content is well-balanced and organized with the analysis of the main players, and the bibliography is rich and instructive. . . . I highly recommend this important book, which no doubt will be an important layer in the study of this turbulent anarchic region of the Middle East."" --David Bukay, University of Haifa, Israel ""Few can write about modern Lebanon with Mordechai Nisan's authority, sensitivity, perspicacity, and literary charm. The Lebanese ought to blush that it wasn't one of their own parsing Lebanon with the nuance, erudition, and discernment of Politics and War in Lebanon. A book of great relevance and profundity, Nisan's work is a compendium of crucial importance to practitioners and students seeking to understand the complexities of the Middle East (of which Lebanon is a microcosmic representation) beyond the soothing jingles, the normative platitudes, and the prevailing oversimplifications of traditional literature. Lebanon's present and future remain uncertain in Nisan's telling. But with his keen historian's eye, his masterful storytelling, and his insider's intimacy, Lebanon's history is safe in the hands of this honorary doyen of modern Lebanese history."" --Franck Salameh, Boston College, Senior Editor in Chief, The Levantine Review ""Fascinating research . . . . As Nisan analyzes so succinctly, perhaps for the first time, the political breakdown of Lebanon in 1975 and the descent into war. . . . The content is well-balanced and organized with the analysis of the main players, and the bibliography is rich and instructive. . . . I highly recommend this important book, which no doubt will be an important layer in the study of this turbulent anarchic region of the Middle East."" --David Bukay, University of Haifa, Israel ""Few can write about modern Lebanon with Mordechai Nisan's authority, sensitivity, perspicacity, and literary charm. The Lebanese ought to blush that it wasn't one of their own parsing Lebanon with the nuance, erudition, and discernment of Politics and War in Lebanon. A book of great relevance and profundity, Nisan's work is a compendium of crucial importance to practitioners and students seeking to understand the complexities of the Middle East (of which Lebanon is a microcosmic representation) beyond the soothing jingles, the normative platitudes, and the prevailing oversimplifications of traditional literature. Lebanon's present and future remain uncertain in Nisan's telling. But with his keen historian's eye, his masterful storytelling, and his insider's intimacy, Lebanon's history is safe in the hands of this honorary doyen of modern Lebanese history."" --Franck Salameh, Boston College, Senior Editor in Chief, The Levantine Review ""Mordechai Nisan's book Politics and War in Lebanon is a fascinating research as much as a brilliant analysis of one of almost unfamiliar states, though a much important one, Lebanon. . . . Nisan is a famous researcher whose accurate and well-balanced analysis of Lebanon gives him a special unique perspective in elaborating Lebanon's reality. . . . As Nisan analyzes so succinctly, perhaps for the first time, the political breakdown of Lebanon in 1975, and the descent into war, was more a function of external intruders than domestic acrimony. . . . The content is well-balanced and organized with the analysis of the main players, and the bibliography is rich and instructive. . . . I highly recommend the publication of this book and commend Transaction Publishers for the publication of this important book, which no doubt will be an important layer in the study of this turbulent anarchic region of the Middle East."" --David Bukay, University of Haifa, Israel ""Few can write about modern Lebanon with Mordechai Nisan's authority, sensitivity, perspicacity, and literary charm. The Lebanese ought to blush that it wasn't one of their own parsing Lebanon with the nuance, erudition, and discernment of Politics and War in Lebanon. A book of great relevance and profundity, Nisan's work is a compendium of crucial importance to practitioners and students seeking to understand the complexities of the Middle East (of which Lebanon is a microcosmic representation) beyond the soothing jingles, the normative platitudes, and the prevailing oversimplifications of traditional literature. Lebanon's present and future remain uncertain in Nisan's telling. But with his keen historian's eye, his masterful storytelling, and his insider's intimacy, Lebanon's history is safe in the hands of this honorary doyen of modern Lebanese history."" --Franck Salameh, Boston College, Senior Editor in Chief, The Levantine Review"

Author Information

Mordechai Nisan taught Middle East studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He is a prolific writer on Zionism, Islam, and Arab history; minority peoples and pluralistic states; Lebanon, American foreign policy in the Middle East; and the intractability of the Arab-Israeli conflict.

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