Product Description
"The war in Lebanon has been a moment of truth for the Israeli nation", Avner Yaniv writes."It has led to tormenting soul searching, deep doubts, and for many Israelis even guilt."In Delemmas of Security, Yaniv provides the most comprehensive study to date of the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon and its painful aftermath.It looks at what factors were involved in Israeli decision-making, shows who the actors were, and demonstrates how a hard "realpolitik" mentality shaped Israeli thinking. Drawing on extensive research and his own first-hand knowledge of how the Israeli government and military operate, Yaniv confronts the difficult questions that the Lebanese conflict and occupation have thrown into sharp relief.Why has Israel so often resorted to force to solve its problems?Is Israel still locked into the blunt mindset of its founding generation?Or is it merely reacting to a relentless, organized Arab drive to erase it from the map of the Middle East?Is Israeli behavior still largely shaped by a small group of decision-makers who are themselves conditioned by the memory of past Jewish traumas?Or is it more accurate to ascribe Israeli conduct to the response of decision-makers to a turbulent domestic environment?Or, finally, are not Israeli leaders reacting to a fundamental strategic dilemma that has haunted the state since its inception?Yaniv's search for answers is both broad and penetrating.After examining the fundamental sources of Israeli conduct, he moves into a detailed account of the Israeli encounter with Lebanon, tracing its origins and development from World War I to 1981.Then, in a detailed investigation of the war, he focuses on the agonizing interaction of strategic considerations with the complexities of the Israeli political system, showing how the turbulence of domestic politics affected critical decisions in a tragic way.He closes with a detailed analysis of the Israeli decision to withdraw from Lebanon. Issues running throughout the book include Israeli-Syrian relations, U.S.-Israeli relations, and the role of the PLO. Also discussed is the rise of the Shiite militants in south Lebanon. ... Read more

Product Description
Lebanon's unique political system and its laissez-faire political economy took shape during the period between the two great wars. Based on hitherto unstudied material, this work examines the inter- and intra-sectarian relations in Lebanon against the backdrop of the conflicting pressures from Damascus and Paris, the stands of the Christians and Muslims towards the Lebanese state, the ideological and political trends that emerged within each community and the rise of the political and economic elites in Beirut. ... Read more

Product Description
Historic Lebanon is best known for its role in the Revolutionary War. It was the home of rebel governor Jonathan Trumbull and William Williams, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Museums and other sites that tell the story of Connecticut's important contributions to the patriot cause surround Lebanon's mile-long town green, listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Located thirty miles east of Hartford, Lebanon was first settled in the 1690s and incorporated in 1700, and until 1804 included the present town of Columbia. While most residents now commute out of town to work, Lebanon remains primarily rural, striving to preserve its agricultural roots. This book tells the story of the people, places, and events that make Lebanon a town to celebrate. ... Read more

Product Description
Lebanon has recently come to the attention to global strategic planners.This report puts these executives on the fast track.Ten chapters provide: an overview of how to strategically access this important market, a discussion on economic fundamentals, marketing & distribution options, export and direct investment options, and full risk assessments (political, cultural, legal, human resources).Ample statistical benchmarks and comparative graphs are given. ... Read more

Product Description
This digital document is an article from Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports and Issue Briefs, published by Thomson Gale on July 1, 2007. The length of the article is 16833 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Lebanon.(Table)(Report)
Author: Alfred B. Prados
Publication: Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports and Issue Briefs (Report)
Date: July 1, 2007
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Page: NA

Article Type: Report, Table

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more

Product Description

Anne Marie Baylouny examines previously undocumented effects of neoliberal economic reforms on middle classes in the Middle East. As the state's safety network has been withdrawn, kin-based mutual aid associations -- organized around new definitions of kinship and identity and geared to contemporary market and labor needs -- have taken its place. Such organizations provide a measure of social and economic security for their members, and have come to dominate civil society in Jordan and Lebanon. Based on extensive fieldwork and interviews with members, non-members, and policymakers, Privatizing Welfare in the Middle East provides compelling new insights into democratization, liberalization, and civil society.

Product Description
Pity the Nation ranks among the classic accounts of war in our time, both as historical document and as an eyewitness testament to human savagery. Written by one of Britain's foremost journalists, this remarkable book combines political analysis and war reporting in an unprecedented way: it isan epic account of the Lebanon conflict by an author who has personally witnessed the carnage of Beirut for over a decade. Fisk's book recounts the details of a terrible war but it also tells a story of betrayal and illusion, of Western blindness that had led inevitably to political and militarycatastrophe.Updated and revised, Fisk's book gives us a further insight into this troubled part of the world.'Robert Fisk is one of the outstanding reporters of this generation. As a war correpondent he is unrivalled.' Edward Mortimer, Financial Times ... Read more

Customer Reviews (20)

Fisks own account of the Lebanese civil war.
Probably the best book written by Robert Fisk who currently writes for the independent newspaper (with articles of considerably less quality than this book)This is more of a personal account of the Lebanese civil war as Fisk was a journalist who not only knew many of the journalists who were kidnapped at the time but also even had a lucky escape himself.

The book covers all sides of the dividing lines in Lebanon even pointing out some of the wider issues that effected Lebanon (such as the PLOs war with Israel and the Israeli invasion, the IRA and provisional volunteers who came to fight along side left wing factions in the civil war)

This is a very interesting read but sometimes I feel that Fisk himself ignores the fact that he is a journalist and becomes too personally involved and sometimes what he writes becomes little more than emotionally charged rants against those he does not agree with rather than objective insight.

Never mind, this is still a very good book and well worth reading.

.... a personal testimony.....
Pity the Nation is a good book to read.
It is descriptive of what happened in Lebanon throughout the wars of others on the land of the Cedars.
Yes, the wars of others.
In my library I have placed this valuable book under the caption `Biography' because I feel Bob Fisk has endured personal hardships at times and very sad events endangered by the intermittent fighting of the rival factions, like Palestinians fighting Palestinians one group was Pro-Syria, the other Pro-Iraq. Syrian Islamite fighting the Syrian secular Baathist regime of Hafiz al Assad. Amal Shia fought Pro-Iraq militias, and many groups changed alliances depending on the heated `Cold Wars' between the USA and USSR. Etcetera.
What Lebanon got to do with that!!!!

Indeed the term "Lebanon at War" is not absolutely applicable in this case, because in the annals of Lebanon's history, this country has NEVER attacked or assaulted its neighbors.
Lebanon has NEVER assaulted any country.
On the contrary, the Lebanese arena has often been `used' by others to temporarily solve their own problems or record winning scores.

Even amidst French rivalries in 1981 that accentuated in local polemics between the Socialists, the De Gaullists and the then weak Extreme Right, the French Ambassador to Lebanon, Louis Delamare, was shot and killed by assassins as he drove to his home in the so called West Beirut (predominantly Muslims). Three gunmen stopped his car a few yards from his residence, and, in what camouflaged to look like an attempted kidnapping, tried to enter the car. Failing to open the door, they shot the ambassador several times through the windshield, then fled in their car driven by a fourth man. Delamare's driver was unharmed and carried the ambassador to the hospital. A few hours later he was pronounced dead from the multiple head and chest wounds. At first, with no one claiming responsibility for the incident, there was speculation that pro-Iranian elements were involved because of the political asylum being granted in France to Iran's former president, Bani- Sadr. Other Arab sources, however, claimed that Syria was responsible for the assassination, possibly through the radical Palestinian group Assifa, led by Abu Nidal. It is said that Syrian President Assad's well-known displeasure with Arafat's recent independent diplomacy has lent his support of the radical group. Delamare's only crime may have been his escort only days before of French Foreign Minister Claude Cheysson to a meeting with Arafat in Beirut.
What Lebanon got to do with that!!!

Even the IDF (Israeli Defensive Force) attempted to break everyone. They played local villagers against their neighbours when it became apparent that each was of a different ideology. They armed, clothed, bribed small groups of youngsters of each faith to work for them, and, indeed, do the ugly side of their games.

But at the end of the day, Lebanese never lost their identity.
The Lebanese are peaceful people.
In a Lebanese mind, trade relations take precedence over all others (notably politics)

During the lull days in the fighting I have been rolling from Reifoun (Summer resort in Kesserwan - the heart of the Christians) to West Beirut on a daily basis and saw with my own eyes the large numbers of `militias' at Gallery Semaan, taking shades under the massive trees. Those guys were not Lebanese, no; they must have been Pakistanis, Indians, and Bangladeshis (mercenaries). Who sent them to Lebanon? Who armed them? Who financed them? - After all they do come from relatively poor countries - They did not speak Arabic, and I bet they could not have known whom their `enemy' was!!!

Why in the mid seventies until 1992 the superpowers let alone a small and powerless country like Lebanon to be the `hub' for training `terrorism' fed by rusty ideologies?
Didn't they know that `terrorism' couldn't be localised?

Days in life of a journalist in Lebanon
This book an account of the author's experience as a reporter in Lebanon during the Civil War. It is essentially journalism, in the sense that it covers the day to day experience of the author. As the author says in the beginning, it is not a history (even though you can follow historical events pretty closely through Fisk's eyes), it is more an account of the daily life of ordinary citizens. For example, there are no statistics, not much on politics and no economic consideration. I personally suspect that studying the economics could help understand the conflict. The good thing is that Fisk has been to a lot of places. He keeps running around the Muslim parts of Lebanon and speaking with everyone: Israelis, Syrians, Palestinians, Muslims, Christians, Druzes, Americans, French, Italians.... He always seems to be near to where the bombs fall, which makes it possible for the reader to learn about the many different ways of being discombobulated or burnt alive (phosphorus or normal burns ?). That can be a little depressing. There are some very interesting comments on the role of journalism and the importance of words, in particular the issue of whether to call someone a terrorist or a freedom fighter, as there is no official definition of terrorism. I also liked the almost poetic way of describing how all foreign armies lose their way in the mystery that is Lebanon.

Be aware that the author is often considered to be strongly biased against Israel and against the Lebanese Christians. To me, it is not clear-cut, but it's the reason why I cannot give it 5 stars. The impression I have is that the author does his best to try and remain objective despite his relatively obvious feelings. The book is factual and probably sincere, but facts as seen by one individual give a necessarily incomplete, and possibly misleading, view of the events. Besides, the religious questions (Muslims vs Christians vs Jews) is intertwined with political issues, which complicates the matter: for example Robert Fisk keeps implying that the Christian Phalange party are nothing but modern-day Fascists. Some comments are clearly unfair or inappropriate: for example when leaving the home of a Christian, he notes that "two Christian children where plucking out the wings of a living bird". What about an interview with Hitler ending with "leaving Chancellor Hitler, I noticed two Austrian children gouging out the eyes of a living cat" ? If you disagree with someone, there are more honest ways to make your point than suggesting that he belongs to an essentially evil people - even if the incident is factually true. It is still a worthwhile read, if only because in the West we tend to get only the pro-Israeli view of the events.

Overrated One-sided Account of Lebanese Civil War
Pity the Nation would have ended up being a reference book for the Lebanese civil war if only it had been written by an impartial journalist. Robert Fisk is anything but.

Mr. Fisk could have used the advantage - if living in war-torn Beirut could be considered as one - of being an eyewitness and an outsider to one of the more brutal civil wars of the latter part of the 20th century to write a fairly unbiased account of the events. He chose to disregard objectivity and opted for biasness, his own political beliefs overshadowing the events that he was covering and masquerading as impassioned pleas for tolerance and forgiveness.

Instead of attempting to cover as many sides of the story as possible (and there are several: Lebanese, Palestinian, Syrian, Israeli, American, French, Italian, Christian, Muslim, Druze, Jewish, etc.), instead of trying to stay as detached as possible (an admittedly difficult task in a stressful war environment), Mr. Fisk identified too closely with his environment, "went native" and covered the story from one narrow angle: the prevailing politics of his home base of West Beirut.

Sure, Mr. Fisk took great pains to indicate that he used to roam around Lebanon to get close(r) to the story. His forays outside of West Beirut remain more akin to a tourist's view than an in-depth account of the events that he was witnessing. Just like the journalists in his book who reported on the war without leaving the relative safety of the Commodore Hotel in Beirut, Mr. Fisk's reporting rarely ventures outside of familiar territory. Herein lays the main weakness of the book.

The book - minus the author's overly developed politics and personal beliefs - is still valuable as an eyewitness account of some of the major events of the Lebanese civil war. It is a must read for those readers who can differentiate between dogma and history and who are not swept away by the author's impressive credentials

An "eye" wrote
Amazingly, and for the ultimate purpose of objectivity in reporting, Fisk spares his opinions and comments over what he saw and lived... he reported afterall. No matter how skeptical someone can be, he cannot deny all of Fisk's reports. Anyways, even by trusting 10% of what Fisk's has reported from Lebanon is utterly moving. ... Read more

Product Description
Originally published in Arabic less than a year after the outbreak of the Lebanese civil war in 1975, this is the first English translation of Mahmoud Khalil Saab's Stories and Scenes from Mount Lebanon. Saab's meticulously narrated stories and accounts of people and events in the "small beautiful country," as he liked to describe his native land, convey the character of life in Lebanon as only someone who experienced it can do. Saab traveled around the country by car to interview people who had lived events or heard of them from their elders. Reading his work, it is clear that his central purpose was to preserve for posterity the narratives he had witnessed and heard during his lifetime, feeling that if they went unrecorded they might be lost forever and with them the values they relate. Anyone with an interest in the values, customs, and heritage of the people of Lebanon, and particularly the Druze, will want to read this book.
... Read more

Product Description
This volume asks fundamental questions about the political impact of cultural institutions by exploring the power struggles for control over such institutions in Syria and Lebanon under French Mandate rule. Countering assertions of French imperial cultural ascendancy and self-confidence, the author demonstrates the diverse capacities of Arab and other local communities, to forge competing cultural identities that would, in later years, form the basis for rising political self-enfranchisement.

Drawing on a wide array of written sources and oral testimonies, the author illuminates how political and religious leaders fought to harness the force of culture through projects as diverse as schools, cinema, scouting, and tourism. These leaders were to be found not only in the French colonial administration or the burgeoning Syrian and Lebanese parliaments, but also in student societies, missionary congregations, and philanthropic organizations. The author pays particular attention to the last decade of French rule before Syrian and Lebanese independence as a critical time of transition and debate.

The rich individual histories of institutions such as the American University of Beirut, the secular French Mission laique, or the Jesuit missionaries come together in a broader narrative that speaks to the ongoing Syrian and Lebanese journeys toward national identity. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (2)

Biased account by a close associate of the Hariris
While the book is well written, yet it is a baised account by one of the Hariri family closest associates whose livelihood depended on work with Rafic Hariri.This is not an accusation, but of course the author would not mention all the bade side of the Hariri saga and the corruption that imprinted his business dealings, which was revealed in several more objective accounts.Fortune magazine put Hariri's fortune by his admission at 4 billion dollars in 2004; yet when he was murdered in Feb 2005, the same magazine reported that his children inherited 16 billion dollars.One cannot use this book as a research reference for an academic work or an objective portrayal of the man.However, the author's facts about the economy are almost OK.

A dream relived


The murder of Lebanon's Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri is enigmatic and perplexing.
To probe to the bottom is one thing, but to spread the truthful details of the investigation is another?

Actually the persons who stand to suffer most are his direct family members and kinfolks, and the hundreds of thousands of his Lebanese (and Arab) supporters who looked at the late PM with genuine feelings of hope.
Hariri was a man full of inspiration and creativity.
We are hoping against hope for a change in fortunes that the investigation will lead, this time, to the `perpetrator' and to the `instigator'.
Reading Iskandar's book takes you to the `golden' years in which Lebanon threw away its gruffly shroud to myriads of bright spots kicking off with Beirut.
A dream relived.

... Read more

Product Description
United States intervention in Lebanon in 1958 and 1982 is the subject of this comparative study, which contrasts the decision making of Presidents Eisenhower and Reagan and the quality and results of their choices. Among the topics discussed are the premises and rationale behind the leaders' policies, the events that shaped specific responses, how managerial style and cognition affect presidential decisions, and the resulting lessons that apply to crisis situations. Korbani also suggests ways to apply theory and decision models to the crises, and details major errors that could have been avoided and lessons that must be learned. ... Read more

Product Description
Conflict and intervention in the Middle East are not uncommon occurrences.Yet when civil strife erupted in Lebanon in 1975, the events that followed were unusual indeed.Unlike most patterns of intervention, Syria displayed remarkable tactical flexibility by first intervening on behalf of the rebels, its traditional allies, then shifting its allegiance mid-war to the Lebanese incumbents. Also, whereas most intervention scenarios end with a process of decommitment, Syria eventually occupied parts of Lebanon to become an enduring military entity there. Delving into primary Syrian and Lebanese sources, Weinberger unravels the history, competing factions, religion, politics, and culture of the region and presents an intriguing and complex portrait of intervention by a regional power. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Syrian Intervention in Lebanon: The 1975-76 Civil War
Although Weinberger recited some information about the issue, she purposefully ignored most of the realities when it comes to recent historical relations of the greater Syria.Her Training as western educated writer did not help her in understanding such relations.In the region, things are neither black and white nor rigid numerical system that can be added or subtracted to conclude such states outcome.In addition, she lacks credible source to clearly state Syria points of view, as well good portion of the Lebanese society.

Perhaps insightful, but utterly unreadable.
Weinberger offers some useful insights into the causes of Syrian intervention in the Lebanese civil war, but her muddled prose undermines any good points she may have intended to express.Namely, she apparently has yet to discover the active voice. ... Read more

Product Description
Jonathan Randal has reported from Beirut since the 1975-76 civil war, and in this newly updated edition he analyzes recent events which have, if anything, made the plight of that unhappy country more insoluble than ever. Foreign troops - Syrian, Israeli, Iranian - still occupy much of the country; the intractable General Aoun (the extraordinary circumstances of whose rise to power are described in detail) broods among the ruins of the presidential palace and the fate of the Western hostages sporadically draws the attention of the world's press. Meanwhile the calamitous exodus of the Lebonese population continues unabated. Combining the immediacy of front line reporting with the historian's wider perspective, this is an account of a turbulent and unfamiliar world. ... Read more

Product Description
Straddling the boundaries of politics and history, this discerning book allows the reader to dig through the rubble of Lebanon's wars and learn exactly what has befallen it. With its remarkable open society, its plural political system, its well-educated and sophisticated peoples, and its tolerant confessional outlook, Lebanon is only now recovering the independence it once had, albeit in the face of Syria. In view of recent Lebanese history, can an open and democratic state be recaptured by a people entangled in a largely authoritarian Arab state system? Farid el Khazen's arresting book shows how Lebanon was led toward its fate by its neighbors, yet ultimately undid itself. The Palestine Liberation Organization's presence was of central importance to the breakdown of the state, while the porousness of the democratic system could not contain the problems and violence. The breakdown was less a civil war in the conventional sense than a series of little wars with outside interference. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

Academic but partial analysis of Lebanon
This book by Professor Farid Khazen is a good read and is well-researched.However, it is an attempt to articulate in academic mantle the Right Wing view in the Lebanon War that the Palestinians were largely responsible for the decay of the Lebanese state, supported by radical Arab states and the Soviet Union.Prof Khazen moves then to a meticulous refutation of Lefitst views of the war, denying that sectarian divisions led to the war or that there were legitimate social and economic grievances among the Lebanese (as the leftists were syaing). Despite the length of Prof Khazen's book, I don't find it satisfying as an account of what happened in Lebanon in the period 1967-1976, nor does it cover adequatleythe destructive role played by the Lebanese elites in these tragic years.

The Best Book Written on the Subject
For any serious researcher, don't look further, this is the book for you. It is a very good piece of work, obviously well researched and documented. And above all, it is the only objective piece of work I read on the history of Lebanon. El Khazen obviously knows what he is talking about, does not throw biased statements, does not omit incidents, and is supporting all of his arguments.
All in all, an excellent piece of work. I admire the author's knowledge, honesty and courage and highly recommend the book.

Comprehensive and Insightful
This is a far more insightful and comprehensive work than several books on Lebanon I have read in recent years. Although I take issue with some of the author's arguments, the book is a solid academic work not only on the war but also on Lebanese society and politics.It is also based on new data and research material.The book is highly recommended for specialists on Lebanese and Arab politics.

Superb
This is a superb book in terms of addressing the events of the war. The style begins by being almost thesis-like, in which he addresses notions of state, and then becomes a more journalistic type account of events that triggered the war in Lebanon.

For the reviewer who says that denying the domestic roots of the civil war, I highly doubt that they read the book- because the book does none of that!

Highly instructive, hightly recommended.

Original and Scholarly Work
This well researched, scholarly book on Lebanese politics and society is a welcome contribution to the study of conflict in the Middle East. The subject matter Farid el Khazen deals with is no doubt complex and controversial.But the author presents his arguments in a balanced and convincing way.His novel approach - examining Lebanon in crisis situations in broader regional perspective - is original and lucid.For anyone seeking to know the internal and external causes of the war in Lebanon, this is the book to read. ... Read more