Belfer Center Spring Book Reception

About

Please join Graham Allison and the Belfer Center
 in celebrating our most recent books!

The reception is in honor of:

Talbot C. Imlay and Monica Duffy Toft, eds., The Fog of Peace and War Planning: Military and Strategic Planning under Uncertainty

Given both the importance and the difficulties involved in military planning, existing research has tended to focus almost exclusively on immediate pre-war and wartime periods surrounding the First and Second World Wars and has neglected peacetime periods and the specific challenges that planners must face. This volume sets out to examine and analyze how governments and military organizations planned for an uncertain and potentially threatening future during four different peacetime periods spanning from the beginning of the nineteenth century to the aftermath of the Second World War.  For each period, the authors have explored how the changing nature of military technology and hence of warfare affected military planning and provided a number of case studies designed to illustrate the challenges and opportunities planners faced within their respective periods. Finally, the book discusses what lessons can be drawn from past cases of military planning.

Robert I. Rotberg, ed., Israeli and Palestinian Narratives of Conflict: History’s Double Helix

Why does Hamas refuse to recognize the legitimacy of the state of Israel? Why do Israeli settlers in the West Bank insist that Israel has a legitimate right to that territory? What makes the Israeli-Palestinian conflict so intractable? Reflecting both Israeli and Palestinian points of view, this provocative volume addresses the two powerful, bitterly contested, competing historical narratives that underpin the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Compelling contributions by Israeli and Palestinian authors show how the intertwined reckonings of the historical past—history's double helix—provide powerful ammunition for current battles. Just when a resolution of the conflict might seem to be on the horizon, the gulf of history resurges to separate the contenders. Palestinians and Israelis remain locked in struggle, tightly entangled and enveloped by a historical cocoon of growing complexity, fundamental disagreement, and overriding miscalculation. In hard-hitting essays, both Israeli and Palestinian authors debate the two justifying and rationalizing historical narratives, laying bare the roots of the conflict and the prisms that fuel it.                                     

Robert I. Rotberg, ed., Building a New Afghanistan
In the wake of the Taliban nightmare, Afghanistan must tackle serious problems before it can emerge as a confident, independent nation. Security in this battered state continues to deteriorate; suicide bombings, convoy ambushes, and insurgent attacks are all too common. Effective state building will depend upon eliminating the national security crisis and enhancing the rule of law. This book offers a blueprint for moving the embattled nation toward greater democracy and prosperity. Robert Rotberg and his colleagues argue that the future success of state building in Afghanistan depends on lessening its dependence on opium and enhancing its economic status. Many of Afghanistan’s security problems are related to poppy growing, opium and heroin production, and drug trafficking. Building a New Afghanistan suggests controversial new alternatives to immediate eradication, which is foolish and counter-productive. These options include monetary incentives for growing wheat, a viable local crop. Greater wheat production would feed hungry Afghans while reducing narco-trafficking and the terror that comes with it. Integrating this land-locked country into the Central Asia or greater Eurasia economy would open up trading partnerships with its northern and western neighbors as well as with Pakistan, India, and possibly China. Developing a sense of common purpose among citizens would benefit the economy and could help to unite the nation. Perhaps most important, bolstering better governance in Afghanistan is necessary in order to eliminate chaos and corruption and enact nationwide reforms.

Richard N. Rosecrance and Arthur A. Stein, eds., No More States? Globalization, National Self-determination, and Terrorism
The twentieth century witnessed an explosion of new nations carved out of existing ramshackle empires and multiethnic states. Many observers contend that the creation of new states will continue indefinitely, with the two hundred of today becoming the four hundred of tomorrow as more groups seek independence. This provocative and compelling book explores the impact of globalization and terrorism on this trend, arguing convincingly that the era of national self-determination has finally come to an end. Examining the forces that determine the emergence of new nation-states, this volume considers a rich array of specific cases from the Middle East, Asia, North America, Europe, and Russia where new states could be created. The contributors contend that globalization, rather than expanding such opportunities, is not as friendly to new weak states with limited resources as it is to established rich nations. Given the vast sums circulating in the world market, few fledgling nations can be financially independent. They find it more prudent to shelter within the protective embrace of existing federations. Equally, governments of federal states can induce restive petitioners—such as Quebec, Scotland, and the Basques—to remain inside the metropolitan boundary through a system of tangible restraints and rewards. Those who reject the benefits, such as rebels in Chechnya and Aceh, will fail in their bids for independence. Taiwan—poised on a knife-edge between integration with China and independence—faces a series of costs and diminished returns if it seeks full statehood. Finally, terrorism has lost its legitimacy as a technique for gaining independence in the eyes of the international community. On balance, the book concludes, discontented national movements will have to find ways to exist within current geopolitical boundaries.

Viktor Mayer-Schoenberger and Ernst O. Brandl, eds., Datenschutzgesetz

In 1995 the members of the European Union agreed on a common legal framework for the protection of personal data, the so-called Data Protection Directive (DPD). This framework has been implemented in the member states, and has significantly altered the way personal data is acquired, processed, and transferred by the public and the private sector. The DPD applies to all stages of data handling, including collection, processing, and transfer, and covers handling of personal data within the European Union as well as transfers abroad. In addition, the European Court of Justice has recently published its first major ruling on the European data privacy framework, widening its reach. This volume is the leading treatise on the Austrian implementation of the DPD, as well as related regulations on a national and European level, and also includes the "Safe Harbor" framework between the United States and the European Union on data privacy issues.

Allison M. Macfarlane and Rodney C. Ewing, eds., Uncertainty Underground: Yucca Mountain and the Nation’s High-Level Nuclear Waste

Despite approval by Congress and the Bush administration and over seven billion dollars already spent, the Yucca Mountain, Nevada, site for disposal of highly radioactive spent nuclear fuel is not yet in operation.  The reasons for the delay lie not only in citizen and activist opposition to the project but also in the numerous scientific and technical issues that remain unresolved.  Although many scientists favor geologic disposal of high-level nuclear waste, there are substantial unknowns in projecting the performance of a site over the tens to hundreds of thousands of years that may be required by Environmental Protection Agency standards.  This volume is the first effort to review the uncertainties in the analysis of the long-term performance of the proposed repository at Yucca Mountain.  The book does not pass judgment on the suitability of the site but provides reliable science-based information to support open debate and inquiry into its safety.

Jeremy Jones, Negotiating Change: The New Politics of the Middle East

The Middle East is frequently portrayed as a collection of stubbornly authoritarian states, whose behavior can only be changed by the table-thumping or even the military intervention of the U.S. government. But, as Jeremy Jones uncovers in this fascinating book, the region is in fact engaged in a profound and tumultuous process of political change. The movements seeking democracy and reform that have emerged are rooted in local cultures and political traditions. And because of this, they are overlooked, obstructed, or even undermined by U.S. pursuit of a one-size- fits-all Western democratic model. This book provides a vivid picture of the changing political cultures of the Middle East. The author looks at new forms of political Islam, from Hamas in the West Bank to the Justice and Development Party in Turkey to Hizballah in Lebanon, demonstrating how each movement grew out of its local context. He meets women politicians in the Gulf, Hamas leaders in Ramallah, and democracy activists in Jordan and Syria, seeking to understand how these new forces relate to each other, to their societies, and to Western policies. In a trenchant critique of the much-vaunted U.S. “democratization agenda,” Jones concludes that a participatory and accountable political culture is slowly emerging in spite, not because of, Western foreign policies.