The Middle East and Palestine : Global Politics and Regional Conflict

Taking issue with the convenient views that the Middle East is an irrational and exceptional region of world politics and that the long and bloody history of the Palestine conflict is proof, the authors of this stimulating collection combine theoretical reflection and empirical investigation, marrying International Relations theory and Middle East studies. Through integrating macro- and micro-perspectives, tracing the interaction of global and regional environments with individuals pursuing political goals, this book rejects the cultural stereotype of ''Middle Eastern exceptionalism'' and argues that regional patterns of conflict are deeply embedded in international and transnational relations and that their particular trajectories have to be interpreted in the light of global political developments. Front Matter....Pages i-xii Front Matter....Pages 1-1 Global Conditions and Global Constraints: The International Paternity of the Palestine Conflict....Pages 3-35 Front Matter....Pages 37-37 “Culture Blind and Culture Blinded”: Images of Middle Eastern Conflicts in International Relations....Pages 39-78 Reinterpreting History: Perceptions of Nazism in Egyptian Media....Pages 79-96 Internationalization of Anti-Islamist Discourse and Creation of a Regional Antiterrorism Mechanism: The Initiative of Mubarak’s Egypt....Pages 97-122 Front Matter....Pages 123-123 Official Islam, Transnational Islamic Networks, and Regional Politics: The Case of Syria....Pages 125-150 Religious Mobilizations in Palestinian Refugee Camps in Lebanon: The Case of Ain al-Helweh....Pages 151-181 Resolving the Palestinian Refugee Problem: Edward A. Norman’s Unintended Contribution to Relevant Lessons in Perspectives, Values, and Consequences....Pages 183-220 Front Matter....Pages 221-221 September 11 and the Arab Reaction in Al-Hayat....Pages 223-238 Back Matter....Pages 239-244

Middle East politics, says editor Jung (Danish Institute for International Studies, Copenhagen), have frequently been discussed in terms of regional exceptionalism. In this volume, eight contributors argue the opposite: that rather than being a result of a peculiar Middle Eastern culture, the regional patterns of conflict have been molded by international and transnational relations and have to be interpreted in light of global political developments. Coverage includes an analysis of the Palestinian problem, the ways in which the field of international relations interprets Middle Eastern conflicts, and the internationalization of anti-Islamist discourse. Case studies examine Syrian Sunni and Shiite state Islam, mobilization in Lebanese Palestinian refugee camps, and Edward A. Norman's plan for resolving Arab-Jewish tensions. An epilogue discusses Arab reaction to September 11th. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Taking issue with the convenient views that the Middle East is an irrational and exceptional region of world politics, and that the long and bloody history of the Palestine conflict is proof, the authors combine theoretical reflection and empirical investigation, marrying International Relations theory and Middle East area studies. Through integrating macro and micro-perspectives, tracing the interaction of global and regional environments with individuals pursuing political goals, this book rejects the cultural stereotype of 'Middle Eastern exceptionalism' and argues that regional patterns of conflict are deeply embedded in international and transnational relations, and that their particular trajectories have to be interpreted in light of global political developments. "By integrating macro- and micro-perspectives, tracing the interaction of global and regional environments with individuals pursuing political goals, this book rejects the cultural stereotype of "Middle Eastern exceptionalism." The contributors argue that regional patterns of conflict are deeply embedded in international and transnational relations and that their particular trajectories have to be interpreted in the light of global political developments."--BOOK JACKET. In sharp contrast to the fashionable announcement of the doomsday of territoriality, the Palestinian Al-Aqsa Intifada essentially revolves around the final territorial consolidation of the Palestinian question.