The October 1973 Middle East War transformed the regions politics and had a huge impact on the international political system as a whole. Arguments about the causes, effects, and meaning of the war and about why it ran its course the way it did have played a key role in shaping the understanding of the Arab-Israeli conflict, of American policy in the Middle East, and of many other major issues. For the 50th anniversary of the war, this book grapples with these issues in an objective way by using the mass of declassified material that has recently become available.
Galen Jackson, the editor of the volume, is an assistant professor of political science at Williams College, where he teaches courses in international relations, international security, American foreign policy, nuclear weapons, cybersecurity, the international relations of the Middle East, and the Arab-Israeli conflict. He has published articles on the Arab-Israeli dispute in a number of scholarly journals, including International Security, Security Studies, the Journal of Cold War Studies, Middle East Journal, and Diplomacy & Statecraft. His book manuscript, A Lost Peace: Great Power Politics and the Arab-Israeli Dispute, 1967-1979, will be published in April 2023.
Despite being a pivotal event, the 1973 war has received far less academic attention than its predecessors, the 1948 and 1967 wars. This volume strongly contributes to making amends through thoroughly addressing some of the core questions surrounding the war. — Jørgen Jensehaugen, Peace Research Institute Oslo
Jackson’s edited volume provides a seminal view of the flawed perceptions that led to the 1973 Arab-Israeli war, reexamining superpower détente, the nuclear dimension and the U.S. role in shaping the outcome of that clash. Based extensively on archival material, these six chapters offer new insights into Israeli decision making, the recasting of the Egyptian army, the scope of Syria’s strategic goals and the impact of the war upon the Palestinians. — Zach Levey, University of Haifa
Galen Jackson’s edited volume features powerful and illuminating contributions to our understanding of the logics that drove the Arab states to act, that led the Golda Meir government to prefer war to the political risks of peace, and that blocked promising diplomatic opportunities for the United States and the Soviet Union to achieve the Arab-Israeli peace that has proven so elusive ever since. — Professor of Political Science, University of Pennsylvania, Ian Lustick, University of Pennsylvania
