The International Self: Psychoanalysis And the Search for Israeli-palestinian Peace

by Sucharov, Mira M.

• ISBN13: 9780791465066
• ISBN10: 0791465063
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-06-01
• Publisher: State Univ of New York Pr

Summary

The International Self explores an age-old question in international affairs, one that has been particularly pressing in the context of the contemporary Middle East: what leads long-standing adversaries to seek peace? Mira M. Sucharov employs a socio-psychoanalytic model to argue that collective identity ultimately shapes foreign policy and policy change. Specifically, she shows that all states possess a distinctive role-identity that tends to shape behavior in the international realm. When policy deviates too greatly from the established role-identity, the population experiences cognitive dissonance and expresses this through counternarratives-an unconscious representation of what the polity collectively fears in itself-propelling political elites to realign the state's policy with its identity. Focusing on Israel's decision to embark on negotiations leading to the 1993 agreement with the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), Sucharov sees this policy reversal as a reaction to the unease generated by two events in the 1980s-the war in Lebanon and the first Palestinian Intifada-that contradicted Israelis' perceptions of their state as a "defensive warrior." Her argument bridges the fields of conflict resolution, Middle East studies, and international relations. Book jacket.

Author Biography

Mira M. Sucharov is Assistant Professor of Political Science at Carleton University

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	ix
Chapter One: Introduction	1	(16)
Chapter Two: Psychoanalysis and International Relations	17	(24)
Chapter Three: The Israeli Self	41	(28)
Chapter Four: The Security Ethic of the IDF	69	(20)
Chapter Five: Israel and the Lebanon War	89	(24)
Chapter Six: Israel and the Intifada	113	(24)
Chapter Seven: From Dissonance to Rightsizing—Israel's Path to Oslo	137	(20)
Chapter Eight: Conclusion	157	(14)
Notes	171	(36)
Bibliography	207	(16)
Index	223