Impossible Peace

In 1993 luminaries from around the world signed the 'Oslo Accords' - a pledge to achieve lasting peace in the Holy Land - on the lawn of the White House. Yet things didn't turn out quite as planned. With over 1, 000 Israelis and close to four times that number of Palestinians killed since 2000, the Oslo process is now considered 'history'.

Impossible Peace provides one of the first comprehensive analyses of that history. Mark LeVine argues that Oslo was never going to bring peace or justice to Palestinians or Israelis. He claims that the accords collapsed not because of a failure to live up to the agreements; but precisely because of the terms of and ideologies underlying the agreements. Today more than ever before, it's crucial to understand why these failures happened and how they will impact on future negotiations towards the 'final status agreement'. This fresh and honest account of the peace process in the Middle East shows how by learning from history it may be possible to avoid the errors that have long doomed peace in the region.

Autorentext

Mark LeVine is Professor of modern Middle Eastern history, culture and Islamic Studies at the University of California, Irvine. He is a contributing editor for Tikkun magazine, and has written for the Los Angeles Times, Le Monde and Christian Science Monitor. He is the author and editor of half a dozen books, including: Heavy Metal Islam (2008), Why They Don't Hate Us (2005), Overthrowing Geography (2005), Religion, Social Practices and Contested Hegemonies (2004) and Twilight of Empire (2003).

Inhalt

Map
Chronology
Abbreviations and Acronyms
Introduction

1. From Modernity to the Messiah on the Mediterranean
2. From Handshake to Security State
3. No Land, No Peace
4. The Economics of Failure
5. Religion, Culture and Territory in a Globalized Context
6. Violence, Chaos and the History of the Future
   Conclusion
   Notes
   Suggestions for Further Reading
   Index