Publications

Leonard Binder, editor
Ethnic Conflict and International Politics in the Middle East
(Gainesville, Florida, USA: University of Florida Press, 1999), 396 pages, US$55.00 (cloth)

This collection of essays is the result of a workshop sponsored by the Department of Political Science and the von Grunebaum Center for Middle Eastern Studies at UCLA that examined the international dimensions of ethnic conflict in the Middle East. The book's development was spurred by the need to consider the implications of recent changes in Middle East regional ethnic consciousness for the attainment of regional stability.

This volume challenges two assumptions of contemporary studies of this topic: first, that ethnicity is essentially psychological and irrational and, second, that ethnic politics are primarily a domestic issue with only indirect consequences for the international sphere.

The editor, Leonard Binder of UCLA, advances the argument to the contrary that regional ethnic politics and international politics are strongly intertwined in the Middle East.

Binder suggests that international conflict is the precipitant for ethnic conflict, and that the current international system is the impediment to the clarification of ethnic relationships, which leads to continued ethnic conflict in the Middle East. He goes on to state that ethnic conflicts cannot be resolved without the influence of the international community or a dominating regional power. The signing of treaties, including the Oslo Accords by the US, Europe, and some regional parties indicates acceptance of that role. Binder is not optimistic about the prospect for international guarantee of agreed solutions to national ethnic conflicts, particularly those that plague the Middle East, given the international community's previous record.

The first section of the book looks at nationalism in the Arab world. Shibley Telhami of the University of Maryland describes the incremental manifestation of a new, transnational, and non-statist Arab nationalism. Telhami foresees that this new Arabism, focusing on the Palestinian issue and the American influence in the region, will determine the legitimacy of present and future Arab governments. It may even become more significant than the balance of regional power in shaping the organization of regional alliances and institutions. One facet of this is the development of Arab public opinion, which transcends political boundaries and hence may question the legitimacy of successor regimes.

A significant portion of the book is devoted to ethnic nationalism in Jordan, the Palestinian territories, and Israel. In her essay on Jordan, Laurie Brand of the University of Southern California presents a detailed analysis of the divisions within and between the Palestinian migrant population and the indigenous East Bank Jordanians. She maintains that Hashemite policy has increasingly exploited the existing differences between the two groups both to thwart the development of a united opposition that might pressure the regime or regime policy, and to maximize the monarchy's freedom to pursue a peace policy with Israel.

Mohammed Muslih of Long Island University looks at the relationship between Hamas and the PLO as played out in Jordan, the Palestinian territories, and Israel. He traces the rise of the Hamas organization as a competitor to the PLO, from its activation in the first Intifidah to the impasse in the peace process in 1999. He believes that the competition between Hamas and the PLO is deliberate, sociological, and ideological; however, he also demonstrates that the context of this antagonism is international.

Other chapters look at Iran, Islam and the Persian Gulf, as well as the Kurds, Turkey, and Central Asia.

Given the current situation in the Middle East, this book remains remarkably relevant. The authors argue that ethnic conflict is built into the current regional system, a point that cannot be missed in the turbulence that continues to plague the Middle East.
(Caroline Nichols)

Bulletin of Regional Cooperation in the Middle East Spring 2001
Copyright 2004 Search for Common Ground