Powerful State,Powerless Mediator: The United States and the Peace Efforts of the Palestine Conciliation Commission, 1949–51

The Arab–Israeli War of 1948 produced complex questions that needed to be solved to obtain peace. Whereas the Arab states suffered humiliating defeats, Israel was the undisputed winner, expanding and solidifying its power. For the Palestinians, the outcome was catastrophic. Between 600,000 and 760,000 Palestinians fled, becoming refugees on the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and in surrounding Arab states. Palestinian society collapsed and Palestine became divided between Israel, Egypt, and Jordan, leaving the borders undecided. The Palestinians’ dreams of statehood were crushed. After the war, Israel used diplomacy to achieve its goals, defending the post-war status quo to preserve its expanded territory and resisting the return of Palestinian refugees. Through its membership in the Palestine Conciliation Commission (PCC), established by the United Nations (UN) in 1948 to solve these problems, the United States was deeply involved in the negotiations. The United States became the informal, yet undisputed leader of the PCC, thus, it would seem, empowering it with the muscles of a superpower. After three years of struggling for peace the PCC had toadmit failure. Knowledge about these negotiations gives important insights into how mediators approached the conflict and shows that power asymmetry may explain why the belligerents could not obtain peace.     

Rhetoric versus reality in the rise of policing in UN peace operations: ‘More blue,less green’?

ABSTRACT

United Nations police (UNPOL) have become increasingly important to operational effectiveness of peace operations. For some time, their contribution to re-establishing the rule of law in conflict-affected states has been seen as a cornerstone for building sustainable peace and enabling mission exit strategies. In a departure from traditional peacekeeping and post-conflict assistance, recent years have seen UN peace operations directed to stabilise countries and protect civilians in the context of on-going violent conflict. As a result, UNPOL have had to undertake a range of expanded tasks, exacerbating long-standing challenges and producing new impediments to their operational effectiveness. At the same time, a ‘pragmatic turn’ is generating increased interest in more police-centric concepts of peacekeeping as a possible alternative to today’s expensive and military-focused peace operations. Drawing on extensive fieldwork in multiple peace operations and at UN headquarters, this article examines the changing roles of UNPOL in a new breed of UN peace operations, identifies the major associated challenges and proposes a series of recommendations for overcoming them. It argues that if police are to respond to unfolding challenges while becoming more central to peacekeeping outcomes, then significant reforms and further research into their impacts will be required.     

‘The First Major Test’: The UN Secretary-General and the Palestine Problem, 1947–9

The Palestine problem was one of the first conflicts the newly formed United Nations (UN) was obliged to contend with. Secretary-General Trygve Lie played an active part in the proceedings, and his consistent support for the partition plan and Israeli UN membership has led to charges of Zionist sympathies and that his actions were based on this personal political bias. What explains the UN Secretary-General's actions in regard to the Palestine problem? This article argues that Palestine represented a threefold ‘test’ for the new world organisation: a test of its ability to solve regional conflicts; a test of its ability to bring about agreement between the United States and the Soviet Union; and a test of the Secretary-General's ability to protect and promote the UN. Due to the timing of the Palestine problem, as well as the attention it attracted from both the media and the general public, the UN's handling of the matter would have consequences for the organisation's standing in the world. In Secretary-General Lie's opinion, Palestine was ‘the first major test’ for the UN, and his perception of the high stakes inherent to the organisation's approach in Palestine provided the primary motivation for the Secretary-General's actions.     

Searching for a Just and Lasting Peace? Anglo-American Relations and the Road to United Nations Security Council Resolution 242

United Nations Security Council Resolution 242 of 22 November 1967 continues to rank as a key point of reference for the Arab-Israeli peace process. The resolution laid down a ‘land for peace’ formula for the resolution of the Arab-Israeli conflict, under which Israel would withdraw from territories occupied during the June 1967 Arab-Israeli War in exchange for full peace agreements with its Arab neighbours. This article analyses the Anglo-American diplomacy at the United Nations which led to the passing of the resolution. It argues that the policy-making of the Johnson administration was rendered incoherent by internal rivalries and disorganisation. US Ambassador to the UN, Arthur Goldberg, was perceived as excessively sympathetic to Israel by the Arab delegations. The British approach, by contrast, was perceived by all parties as more even-handed. The clear position adopted by Foreign Secretary George Brown on Israeli withdrawal from the occupied territories, together with the skilful diplomacy of the Ambassador to the UN, Lord Caradon, explains the British success in sponsoring Resolution 242. The episode holds broader lessons for the conduct of Anglo-American relations showing that Britain was better placed to achieve diplomatic success when it retained its freedom of manoeuvre in relations with the United States.     

‘Therefore They Shouldn’t Exist’: The Carter Administration,the ‘Israel Lobby’ and the Sinai Settlements

Abstract

The Israeli settlements in Sinai could have been a fatal obstacle to Egyptian–Israeli peace, but the Jimmy Carter administration overcame it. The established narrative of how Israel ceded the Sinai settlements focuses on the Camp David summit. However, the real battle over the fate of the settlements was fought previously. In February–April 1978, the Carter administration attempted to turn pro-Israeli supporters in the United States against the Israeli position, according to which the Sinai settlements should remain in place. The Menachem Begin government mobilized to counter that push but lost the battle. Contrary to his image as an awkward political operator, Carter won over supporters of Israel effectively. The case raises questions regarding the oft-mentioned role of the ‘Israel lobby’ in preventing peace.     

The Struggle Between the United States and Israel over Recognition for Jerusalem as Israel's Capital, 1952–67

This study analyses the key role played by Washington in the international community's battle from 1952 to 1967 not to recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital. It tries to explain both why the United States took on such a role and why its efforts were rewarded with such little success. It is suggested that the United States was guided chiefly by the principle of showing respect for the United Nations' authority. Yet, when this principle clashed with another, namely Israel's resolve for Jerusalem to be its capital, it was generally the United States that backed away.     

How Constitutional Concerns Framed the US Contribution to the International Human Rights Regime From Its Inception, 1947–53

The United States has been reluctant to agree to binding international human rights instruments ever since the very first meeting of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in 1947. This article explores structural causes for that reluctance. Internal government papers show that US government officers worried that a human rights treaty might expand federal jurisdiction at the expense of the jurisdiction of the United States' constituent states and could provide an opening for judicial activism by the courts. These concerns made domestic political sensitivities more acute and raised principled questions about the desirability of pushing domestic reforms through international law-making. US representatives made repeated efforts to ensure that an international bill of rights was drafted as an aspirational declaration rather than a legally binding treaty. They also proposed clauses designed to delay or limit the domestic effects of any agreement, while reassuring the US Senate that domestic power balances would not be disturbed. Constitutional concerns thus framed the United States' contribution to the creation of an international human rights system from the very beginning.     

Book Reviews

Books reviewed: Johan, Allen; Doreen, Massey and Allen, Cochrane with Julie, Charlesworth; Gill, Court; Nick, Henry and Phil, Sarre, Rethinking the Region White, George, W., Nationalism and Territory. Constructing Group Identity in Southeastern Europe Richard, Black and Khalid, Koser, (eds) The End of the Refugee Cycle? Refugee Repatriation and Reconstruction     

Book Reviews

Abstract

I begin with an attempt to discern the contours of the "debate" contained in the edited volume Theology and the Political: The New Debate. While the Radical Orthodox contributors are eager to critique those outside the fold, only two authors seem to talk back to them: Kenneth Surin and Mary-Jane Rubenstein. I agree with Surin's rejection of ontological hierarchy and Rubenstein's recommendation of Nancy's notion of "being-with," and I use their arguments to critique Radical Orthodoxy's ontology and their simplistic approach to "secular" authors, respectively. Insofar as one must discuss ontology in relation to theology and the political, I propose that we must actually develop a new ontology rather than simply reassert some version of the Thomistic synthesis. Finally, I fault the relative lack of reference to actual political practice, and above all the complete absence of Latin American liberation theology, in a volume ostensibly discussing "theology and the political."     

Book Reviews

Cultural heritage is of immense importance in the construction of identities and, therefore, the behaviour of society. It is argued here that traditional approaches, reflected in British government legislation and policy, ignore elements integral to community perceptions of cultural heritage. The current framework of heritage management also hinders practitioners from exploring, conserving, presenting and challenging these constructs This paper calls for the development of integrated and inclusive heritage‐management practice and a recognition of the contribution of recent research into constructs of cultural heritage It is argued that there is a need to investigate the opportunities for, and feasibility of, developing more integrated approaches that reflect the diverse and joined‐up nature of cultural heritage.     

Book Reviews

John W. Baldwin. Aristocratic Life in Medieval France: the Romances of Jean Renart and Gerbert de Montreuil, 1190-1230. Johns Hopkins University Press, 2000. xvii + 359 pp.

Daniel J. Sherman. The Construction of Memory in Interwar France. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 1999. xvii + 414 pp.

C. Brian Morris. Son of Andalusia: The Lyrical Landscapes of Federico García Lorca. Vanderbilt University Press, 1997. xiv + 486 pp. $39.95.

Ramón F. Llorens and Jesús Pérez Magallón, eds. Luz vital. Estudios de cultura hispánica en memoria de Victor Ouimette. McGill University and Caja de Ahorros del Mediterráneo, 1999. 227 pp.

Robert Vilain. The Poetry of Hugo von Hofmannsthal and French Symbolism. Oxford Modern Languages and Literature Monographs. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2000. xii + 376 pp. $85.00.

Janet Pérez. Camilo José Cela Revisited: The Later Novels. New York: Twayne Publishers, 2000. 189 pp.

Catherine G. Bellver. Absence and Presence: Spanish Women Poets of the Twenties and Thirties. Bucknell University Press, 2001. x + 294 pp. $46.50.

Allen Thiher. Fiction Rivals Science: The French Novel From Balzac to Proust. Columbia and London: Universiry of Missouri Press, 2001. 215 pp. $37.50.

Michael R. Finn. Proust: The Body and Literary Form. Cambridge University Press, 1999. xiii + 210 pp.

Melveena McKendrick. Playing the King: Lope de Vega and the Limits of Conformity. London: Tamesis, 2000. 230 pp. $75.00.

Willard Bohn. Modern Visual Poetry. University of Delaware Press, Associated University Presses, 2001. 321 pp. $47.50     

Book Reviews

Tommy Gärling, Thomas Laitila and Kerstin Westin (eds), Theoretical Foundations of Travel Choice Modeling
Gunnar Törnqvist, Renässans för regioner. (Renaissance for regions)
Golledge, G.R. and Stimson J.R., Spatial Behavior-A Geographic Perspective     

Book Reviews

Tolley, R. and Turton, B. (1995), Transport Systems, Policy and Planning. A Geographical Approach
Soja, E.W. (1996), Thirdspace: Journeys to Los Angeles and Other Real-and-Imagined Places
Cole, J. (1996), Geography of the World's Major Regions
Roberts, B.K. (1966), Landscapes of Settlement, Prehistory to the Present
Greed, Clara H. (1994), Women and Planning—Creating Gendered Realities
Auty, R.M. (1995), Patterns of Development. Resources, policy and economic growth     

Book Reviews

Heritage is important for the social and cultural health of communities, whilst local stewardship of cultural heritage has the capacity to empower and recover cultural identity. This paper describes a recent project in Lakhnu – a small rural village in Uttar Pradesh, India – to restore a nineteenth century villa formerly used as the village school as an educational facility. In this discussion, we draw attention to the right of groups to manage their culture. The loss of cultural heritage is linked to a loss of identity. We argue that heritage projects have the capacity to empower communities to sustain their heritage and identity and provide useful places for social and material advancement through the concept of a shared ‘symbolic estate’. At Lakhnu, we plan to evoke grass-root conservation where local communities become the rightful stakeholders and decision-makers who are encouraged and facilitated in the realisation of their right to cultural heritage and to stimulate growth and build capacity for the community.     

Book Reviews

Books Reviewed:
Don Mitchell, Cultural Geography: a critical introduction
Lesley Head, Cultural Landscapes and Environmental Change
F Driver and D Gilbert, Imperial cities: landscape, display and identity     

Book Reviews

Book reviewed in this article: Methoden der Datenerschliessung und mathematisch-statistischen Aufbereitungen in Geographie und Regionalforschung, by Gerhard Schmidt, Otti Margraf, and Erich Bacinski. Organisation spatiale des systèmes de soins, by Jean-Pierre Thouez. Rivers: Environment and Process, edited by Keith Richards. Location, Location, Location, by Ken Jones and Jim Simmons. Energy, Planning and Urban Form, by Susan Owens.     

Book Reviews

Book reviewed in this article: Residential Segregation, the State and Constitutional Conflict in American Urban Areas, by R. J. Johnston. Spatial Statistics and Models, edited by G. L. Gaile and C. J. Willmott. An Introduction to Latent Variable Models, by B. S. Everitt.     

Book Reviews

Book Reviewed in this article: D. Smith (Ed.), The Apartheid City and Beyond: Urbanization and Social Change in South Africa. Eviatar Zerubavel , Terra Cognita: The Mental Discovery of America. Bertell Ollman , Dialectical Investigations. Scott Lash and John Urry , Economies of Signs and Space.