The Arab-Israeli Conflict Transformed: Fifty Years of Interstate and Ethnic Crises »

Makes the perhaps surprising argument that the Arab-Israeli conflict is winding down.

Booknews

Ben-Yehuda and Sandler (both: political studies, Bar-Ilan U., Israel) combine the theoretical approaches of realism and institutionalism with empirical models of interstate and interethnic conflict in their study of Arab-Israeli conflict. They come to the rather surprising conclusion that frequency and magnitude of crises in both areas of conflict has been subsiding, although they argue that the interethnic (read Palestinian-Israeli) conflict decline was "less-pronounced." In the interstate realm, they argue that the gradual emergence of norms, involving mutual acceptance and awareness of the overwhelming costs of war by all participants, complemented by the balance of power in making war seem unacceptable. Characterizing the Palestinians as solely responsible for the ethnonational conflict, they argue that the stabilization of interstate relations slowly spills over into the ethnonational domain, calming the situation. There is little discussion of such political matters as access to resources and land or the interference of powers from outside the region. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)