Powerful and often moving, Beware of Small States is a magisterial book, essential reading for understanding Lebanon or the current political climate of the Middle East. In a masterly narrative, he gives a much-needed, comprehensive history of the country and its conflicts, culminating with the recent war in Gaza and its fallout in Lebanon. The author charts the interplay between a uniquely complex country and its neighbouring. Iran and Israel now face each other in the hills of south Lebanon.ĭavid Hirst, author of The Gun and the Olive Branch, is a hugely respected commentator on the Arab-Israeli crisis. Beware of small states : Lebanon, battleground of the Middle East. To understand Lebanon's history is to understand the history of the entire region - and, with the rise of Hizbullah, it has come to assume a disproportionate, dangerous power of its own. Throughout its short existence, it has been attacked, invaded, occupied or interfered with to serve the political interests of foreign powers, resulting a series of devastating wars and crises. He could have meant Lebanon: a sectarian state no bigger than Wales that has become battleground for one of the defining conflicts of twentieth-century history. In this magisterial history of Lebanon, from the end of Ottoman rule to the Hizbullah and Hamas wars of today, David Hirst charts the intricate interplay between a uniquely complex country and its geopolitical environment through all the broad historical experiences of the modern Middle East. 'Beware of Small States' wrote Mikhail Bukanin in 1870. Reviews of Books / Comptes Rendus: Beware of Small States : Lebanon, Battleground of the Middle East David Hirst New York : Nation Books, 2010.
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