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The United States and the State of Israel, by David Schoenbaum

The United States and the State of Israel, by David Schoenbaum BOOK REVIEWS | 741 The United States and the State of Israel by David Schoenbaum. New York, Oxford University Press, 1993. 404 pp. Cloth, $39.95; paper, $16.95. Books on the tangled relationship between the Unite d Stat es and Israel are not in short supply. This one, however, is different in two respects : it tries to be comprehensive ,even eclecti c, in its coverage; and it often questions conventional wisdom. David Schoenbaum, professor of history at the University of Iowa, has long dabble in d Middle Eastern affairs, often adopting a somewhat contrarian point of view. His beyond-the-beltway credentials, which he proudly flaunts, and his professional grounding as an historia n help to make this an unusuall y rewarding book. Schoenbaum may not have ever occupied a pivotal position in the U.S.-Israeli relationship, but he seems to have read nearly everything that anyone has writte n about it. And he is a critical reader, convinced that facts even , in this postmod ­ ernis t age, cannot be take n lightly. So his book is filled with information, anec ­ dotes ,and analysis. Unlike some authors Schoenbaum , does not seem to have a particular axe to grind. He neithe lavis r hes praise on Israel nor seeks to criticize it. Instead, he treats the relationship between the two countries as a dynamic, complex, often changing one. In short, he sees the relationship as historical. ‘a produc t of frequentl ambiguous, y untidy, and fortuitous places, times, and circumstances rather than a timeless and self-evident featur of e the landsca ” pe (p. x). While the author ’s approach has much to recommend it, the result is a narrati ve that is sometimes disjointe d, moving from one topic to another without much sense of direction. On occasions, the chronology of events is hard to keep straight, as the author jumps from one topic to another. The writing, while lively, is often dense and convoluted, somewha t like a sustained argument rathe r than clea r analysis. The book was completed while the Likud was still in power, and the Madrid negotiations had just gotten underway. Schoenbaum is torn between the many reasons he can think of to be skeptical that Arab-Israel pea i ce might result from the talks, and the slight chance of success that he glimpses. He hesitate to s speculate on what peace, or the end of the cold war, or both would mean for the U.S.-Israeli relationship, leaving the reader with the rather vague notion that the “special ” qualiti of es the relationship that he has described in such detai l will endure .He is probably right. But it would be hard to say precisely why, even after reading this rich and complicate book. d Perhaps with more of an analyti cal framework the book might have been more helpfu l for anticipating future trends as wel l as explaining the past. But to raise this point is to get at the hear t of where historians and politica scie l ntists tend to part ways .Schoenbaum is decidedl a y historia n who sees his tas k as studying the past .He revels in the uniqueness of the relationshi betwe p en Israel and the United States Whe . ther one shares these perspectives or not, this is a book worth reading carefully. William B. Quandt The Brookings Institution http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Political Science Quarterly Oxford University Press

The United States and the State of Israel, by David Schoenbaum

Quandt, William B.
Political Science Quarterly , Volume 108 (4): 1 – Dec 15, 1993
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Copyright
1993 The Academy of Political Science
ISSN
0032-3195
eISSN
1538-165X
DOI
10.2307/2152412
Publisher site
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Abstract

BOOK REVIEWS | 741 The United States and the State of Israel by David Schoenbaum. New York, Oxford University Press, 1993. 404 pp. Cloth, $39.95; paper, $16.95. Books on the tangled relationship between the Unite d Stat es and Israel are not in short supply. This one, however, is different in two respects : it tries to be comprehensive ,even eclecti c, in its coverage; and it often questions conventional wisdom. David Schoenbaum, professor of history at the University of Iowa, has long dabble in d Middle Eastern affairs, often adopting a somewhat contrarian point of view. His beyond-the-beltway credentials, which he proudly flaunts, and his professional grounding as an historia n help to make this an unusuall y rewarding book. Schoenbaum may not have ever occupied a pivotal position in the U.S.-Israeli relationship, but he seems to have read nearly everything that anyone has writte n about it. And he is a critical reader, convinced that facts even , in this postmod ­ ernis t age, cannot be take n lightly. So his book is filled with information, anec ­ dotes ,and analysis. Unlike some authors Schoenbaum , does not seem to have a particular axe to grind. He neithe lavis r hes praise on Israel nor seeks to criticize it. Instead, he treats the relationship between the two countries as a dynamic, complex, often changing one. In short, he sees the relationship as historical. ‘a produc t of frequentl ambiguous, y untidy, and fortuitous places, times, and circumstances rather than a timeless and self-evident featur of e the landsca ” pe (p. x). While the author ’s approach has much to recommend it, the result is a narrati ve that is sometimes disjointe d, moving from one topic to another without much sense of direction. On occasions, the chronology of events is hard to keep straight, as the author jumps from one topic to another. The writing, while lively, is often dense and convoluted, somewha t like a sustained argument rathe r than clea r analysis. The book was completed while the Likud was still in power, and the Madrid negotiations had just gotten underway. Schoenbaum is torn between the many reasons he can think of to be skeptical that Arab-Israel pea i ce might result from the talks, and the slight chance of success that he glimpses. He hesitate to s speculate on what peace, or the end of the cold war, or both would mean for the U.S.-Israeli relationship, leaving the reader with the rather vague notion that the “special ” qualiti of es the relationship that he has described in such detai l will endure .He is probably right. But it would be hard to say precisely why, even after reading this rich and complicate book. d Perhaps with more of an analyti cal framework the book might have been more helpfu l for anticipating future trends as wel l as explaining the past. But to raise this point is to get at the hear t of where historians and politica scie l ntists tend to part ways .Schoenbaum is decidedl a y historia n who sees his tas k as studying the past .He revels in the uniqueness of the relationshi betwe p en Israel and the United States Whe . ther one shares these perspectives or not, this is a book worth reading carefully. William B. Quandt The Brookings Institution

Journal

Political Science Quarterly – Oxford University Press

Published: Dec 15, 1993

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