BOOK REVIEW
By David K. Shipler
(Published in the Nov./Dec. 2011 issue of Moment)
The Anatomy of Israel’s Survival
Hirsh Goodman
PublicAffairs
2011, $26.99, pp. 288
“Can Israel survive? The question used to infuriate me,” Hirsh Goodman begins in The Anatomy of Israel’s Survival. “Does someone wake up in Britain, or America, or even Burundi, and ask themselves whether their country can survive?”
No, not yet. But nobody asked that question about the Soviet Union either, except for the dissident Andrei Amalrik, in his aptly titled Will the Soviet Union Survive Until 1984? It did, but only seven years past the date he chose as a sardonic nod to Orwell. Add Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia and now Sudan, and throw in the non-state actors—al Qaeda, Hamas, Hezbollah, which have the leverage to ignite war and shape international politics—and the world order of nation states seems stricken by impermanence. It’s a wonder that the Palestinians want the United Nations to grant them a status so precarious.
Showing posts with label Book Reviews. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Book Reviews. Show all posts
November 1, 2011
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)