The Transformation of Palestinian Politics: From Revolution to State-Building - Hardcover

Rubin, Barry

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0674000714 ISBN 13: 9780674000711

Publisher: Harvard University Press, 1999

Synopsis

This book is a comprehensive overview and analysis of the Palestinians' travail as they move from revolutionary movement to state. Barry Rubin outlines the difficulties in the transition now under way arising from Palestinian history, society, and diplomatic agreements. He writes about the search for a national identity, the choice of an economic system, and the structure of government.

Rubin finds the political system interestingly distinctive--it appears to be a pluralist dictatorship. There are free elections, multiple parties, and some latitude in civil liberties. Yet there is a relatively unrestrained chief executive and arbitrariness in applying the law because of restraints on freedom. The new ruling elite is a complex mixture of veteran revolutionaries, heirs to large and wealthy families, professional soldiers, technocrats, and Islamic clerics.

Beyond explaining how the executive and legislative branches work, Rubin factors in the role of public opinion in the peace process, the place of nongovernmental institutions, opposition movements, and the Palestinian Authority's foreign relations--including Palestinian views and interactions with the Arab world, Israel, and the United States.

This book is drawn from documents in Arabic, Hebrew, and English, as well as interviews and direct observations. Rubin finds that, overall, the positive aspects of the Palestinian Authority outweigh the negative, and he foresees the establishment of a Palestinian state. His charting of the triumphs and difficulties of this state-in-the-making helps predict and explain future dramatic developments in the Middle East.

About this title

About the Author

Barry Rubin is Deputy Director, Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies, and Executive Editor, Middle East Review of International Affairs.

From the Back Cover

[A] fair treatment of the subject, the transformation of the PLO from a military-political organization to the force behind the establishment of a Palestinian state. Rubin is well informed, and the book is based on a wide selection of Arabic language sources, as well as Israeli and English language. (Walter Laqueur, Center for Strategic and International Studies, Washington)

Reviews

In this highly readable book, Rubin, deputy director of Israel's Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies and the author of numerous works on the Arab-Israeli conflict, examines the prospect of Palestinian statehood. The book focuses on post-1993 Palestinian politics and the internal and external challenges that have faced the Palestinian Authority in the aftermath of the Oslo agreement. Drawing on an impressive array of English, Hebrew, and Arabic sources, the author explores a complicated maze of interactions between Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority and its internal opponents. Crucially, the book also places the Palestinian Authority's struggle in the context of Israeli and regional politics. Because of the heavy focus on current events, readers not familiar with the history of the conflict will need other sources to place post-1993 Palestinian politics into context. Recommended for academic libraries and students of the Arab-Israeli conflict.ANader Entessar, Spring Hill Coll., Mobile, AL
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Harvard University Press
• Publication date: 1999
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0674000714
• ISBN 13: 9780674000711
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 304