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Jonathan Schanzer is the director of policy at the Jewish Policy Center.

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Korte biografie
Since joining us in February 2010, Dr. Schanzer has been singularly focused on ensuring that FDD delivers not only accurate and timely research, but also research that is useful to decision makers inside the Beltway, across America, and around the world.

Dr. Schanzer brings solid scholarship and public policy credentials to his job of overseeing FDD's research. He worked as a terrorism finance analyst at the U.S. Department of the Treasury, where he played an integral role in the designation of numerous terrorist financiers. A former research fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Dr. Schanzer has studied Middle East history in four countries. He earned his Ph.D. from Kings College London, where he wrote his dissertation on the U.S. Congress and its efforts to combat terrorism in the 20th century.

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Deze bespreking is geschreven voor LibraryThing Vroege Recensenten.
This will be a short review as I am currently deployed and internet connections here are not great; I found this book to be quite good. It was a relatively easy read, well-documented, and reasonably well balanced. Schanzer does an excellent job of breaking down barriers to Palestinian statehood (and, indeed, governance). I would recommend this book to others.
 
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RhodestoRome | 7 andere besprekingen | May 4, 2014 |
Deze bespreking is geschreven voor LibraryThing Vroege Recensenten.
This is an accessible and well-documented, if pretty brief, overview of the past 60 years of the pursuit of a Palestinian state. Though it's popular to peg Israel as the reason there is no Palestinian state, Schanzer thoroughly demonstrates that the obstacles to statehood are many, serious, and mostly the fault of the Palestinian leaders themselves. The main problems are governmental corruption, nepotism, devotion to violence and terrorism, greed, and a lack of stable institutions. (Schanzer does acknowledge that Israel doesn't make things easy for the Palestinians, and he also blames the international aid-giving community for not requiring more of the Palestinians.)

The book does seem to implicitly accept that there SHOULD be a Palestinian state and that a two-state solution is actually possible. Anyone looking for a substantive or more abstract discussion of these propositions won't find it in this book, but they will find a clear, even-handed record of the efforts to achieve statehood, the reasons they've failed, and a brief list of recommendations for the future.

If you're new to the subject, or are looking for a "just the facts" summary, I think this book is a good place to start. (It's certainly difficult to come out of it believing the narrative that Israel is the problem.)
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½
 
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pseudoeden | 7 andere besprekingen | Jan 15, 2014 |
Deze bespreking is geschreven voor LibraryThing Vroege Recensenten.
The Palestinian 'state' has constantly been shooting itself in the foot. It has been consistantly plagued by corruption and mismanagement to the point where few outside entities are inclined to invest in any kind of infrastructure. The downside of this book is that it is filled with quotes from other sources and little original material. That said it is a good look at a disfunctional wannabe state.
 
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LamSon | 7 andere besprekingen | Dec 26, 2013 |
Deze bespreking is geschreven voor LibraryThing Vroege Recensenten.
"Lost in all the hoopla was one crucial question: Are the Palestinians prepared for this next step [statehood]? Is the Palestinian Authority (PA)....an efficient, transparent or financially viable authority that is prepared to function as a government for the Palestinian people? This book will explain why the answer, unfortunately, is "no." The reason: the PA and its antecedents have been beset by bad governance." Stating the purpose of the book and going on to support his premise is Schanzer's task. He gives an historical outline of the events leading up to Mahmoud Abbas's efforts before the UN for nonmember observer state status and eventually Palestinian statehood. Schanzer's critique is one of constructive criticism pointing out the lack of solid and transparent financial health, sound government by administrators not linked to corruption or terrorism, trustworthy security, freedom of the press or an independent judiciary system.
Overall, the treatment of these and related subjects is clearly done, not over simplified but not mired in details. The book is easy to read, the plentiful foot notes are not in the way and it flows well. I would have liked a more exhaustive index (for example:Beirut 1983 attack, Madrid 1991 conference, Qaddafi.)
It is a helpful book, a good resource for keeping up with names and places for an ever-changing scenario. It covers events into 2013.
Starting out, I had very little factual knowledge of the makeup of the PLO/PA, but after reading State of Failure, I feel better informed and prepared for understanding the events in the Middle East.
… (meer)
 
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Savta | 7 andere besprekingen | Dec 20, 2013 |

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