The Bar Kokhba Syndrome: Risk and Realism in International Relations

"In the year 132, a well-planned rebellion broke out in Judea. The Jewish warrior Bar Kokhba emerged as its leader, and it has forever after been known by his nama. Now, nearly two thousand years later, Dr. Yehoshafat Harkabi, former chief of Military Intelligence of the State of Israel, expert on Arab affairs, and Professor of International Relations and Middle Eastern Studies of the Hebrew University, has written the first comprehensive military analysis of the Bar Kokhba Rebellion. The implications of this work go well beyond the Jewish sphere. The Bar Kokhba Rebellion is an instance of how political and military decisions are made by leaders who perceive their situation as desperate. It explore under what conditions and in what straits should leaders risk national suicide?

Text: English, Hebrew (translation)