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This book is designed to present a fully developed theory of international crisis and conflict, along with substantial evidence of these two closely related phenomena. The book begins with a discussion of these topics at a theoretical level, defining and elaborating on core concepts: international crisis, interstate conflict, severity, and impact. This is followed by a discussion of the international system, along with two significant illustrations, the Berlin Blockade crisis (1948) and the India-Pakistan crisis over Kashmir (1965-66). The book then presents a unified model of crisis, focusing on the four phases of an international crisis, which incorporate the four periods of foreign policy crises for individual states. Findings from thirteen conflicts representing six regional clusters are then analyzed, concluding with a set of hypotheses and evidence on conflict onset, persistence, and resolution.

Books by Michael Brecher -- Preface -- Acknowledgments -- Contents -- List of Tables -- Chapter 1: Introduction: Many Paths to Knowledge -- Chapter 2: Historical Roots -- Four Levels of Conflict -- Clash of Belief Systems -- Competing National Goals -- Intercommunal Rivalry -- Discordant British Pledges -- Political and Military Acts, 1933-1947 -- Transformative Event-UN Partition Resolution 181 -- Chapter 3: Struggle for Jerusalem -- Onset -- Decisions -- Decision-Makers -- Attitudinal Prism-Perceptions -- Decision Process -- Implementation -- International Boycott -- Chapter 4: Arab-Israel Perceptions -- Israel-Palestine -- National Identity -- Attitudinal Prisms -- Israel-Syria -- Attitudinal Prisms -- Arab-Israel Perceptions of the Balance of Military Capability -- Chapter 5: Israeli Leaders' Perceptions of the Arabs, the Arab-Israel Conflict, and Peace: Formative Generation, 1948-77 -- Ben-Gurion and Sharett: Two Competing Perceptions -- Levi Eshkol: Changing Views of the Arabs -- Golda Meir: Ben-Gurionist Image of the Arabs -- Yigal Allon and Moshe Dayan: Sabra Views of the Arabs and Israel's Strategic Goals -- Abba Eban: Sharettist Views of the Arabs, the Middle East, and Peace -- Shimon Peres: Ben-Gurionist Views of the Arabs and the Middle East -- Chapter 6: Encounters with Arab Intellectuals and Officials: Views on Israel, Palestine, and Their Conflict (1975) -- Mohammed Sayeed Ahmad: Commentator, Al-Ahram Center, Cairo -- Osama Al-Baz: National Security Advisor to Presidents Sadat and Mubarak -- Boutros Boutros-Ghali: Professor of International Law, Cairo University -- Later, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Egypt, and UN Secretary-­General (1992-1996) -- Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies -- Disquieting Reaction in Israel -- Chapter 7: Conflict-Sustaining Acts in the Arab-Israel Protracted Conflict -- Violence

Intro -- Dedication -- Acknowledgments -- Books by Michael Brecher -- Contents -- Chapter 1: Introduction: Many Paths to Knowledge -- Chapter 2: Prelude to an Intellectual Odyssey -- Years of Awakening (1936-46) -- Spanish Civil War (1936-39) -- Munich Agreement (1938) -- High School (1938-42) -- Student Years at McGill (1942-46) -- The Holocaust (1945) -- Yale Graduate Studies (1946-49) -- Pioneers in International Relations -- Library of Congress (1947) -- The UN (1948) -- Israel: Formative Years (1949-51) -- Phases of an Intellectual Odyssey -- Encounters with Pierre Elliott Trudeau -- Beginnings of the South Asia Phase (1951-53) -- Bombay (May-June 1951) -- Delhi (June-July 1951, October 1951-February 1952) -- Vale of Kashmir (July-September 1951) -- Meaning of Kashmir -- The Struggle for Kashmir (1953): Contents -- Chapter 3: Political Leaders: India (1951-91) -- In Quest of Jawaharlal Nehru (1955-1989) -- Preparing the Way -- London Phase (May-November 1955) -- Interviews with Lord Mountbatten (November 1955) -- Entrée to Nehru (December 1955) -- Discovery of the Indian Village (January-February 1956) -- Rationale of Nehru Project -- Encounters with Nehru (1956-63) -- Tour with Nehru (March 1956) -- Interviews (June 1956) -- On Gandhi and Non-Violence -- On the Partition of India -- On India's Achievements Since Independence -- On Socialism -- On China -- On Foreign Policy, War, and Non-Alignment -- On the USA and the Soviet Union -- On Kashmir and Indo-Pakistan Relations -- On the Bandung Conference, Israel, and the Arabs -- On India and the Commonwealth -- On 'After Nehru' -- On the Good Society -- Portrait of the Man -- Nehru as an Intellectual -- Interview with Nehru (January 1958) -- Interim Assessment in Nehru: A Political Biography (1959) -- Last Interview with Nehru (December 1963) -- Further Interim Assessment (November 1964).

The World of Protracted Conflicts analyzes interstate protracted conflict, a widespread phenomenon in the global system and regional subsystems during the past near-century. It describes the content of a protracted conflict, explains the cause-effect linkages in this multi-dimensional phenomenon, and explores models to forecast protracted conflict.

This book is unique in illuminating and comparing the charismatic role of two political leaders, Jawaharlal Nehru and David Ben-Gurion, along with assessments of many other 20th century political leaders. Its aim is to enrich our knowledge of an important dimension of global politics: charismatic leadership. The central role of political leaders in shaping the behavior of states has been universally recognized since the political systems of antiquity in East Asia, the Middle East, and Europe. With the massive increase of independent states since the end of World War II, from 55 initial members of the United Nations to more than 200 today, and especially the emergence of awesome weapons of mass destruction, the centrality of political leaders in the survival of the planet has grown exponentially. Both India and Israel have experienced the crucial role of charismatic leaders, Nehru and Ben Gurion, who dominated their states and societies for a near-identical formative period in their political independence, 1947-64 and 1948-63 respectively, as charismatic leaders. Their impact, Brecher shows, extended far beyond their states to both their geographic regions and global politics.--

Conflict and crisis: concepts and overview findings on earthquakes I -- Protracted conflict-crisis model and findings on earthquakes II -- Crisis escalation to war: concepts, model, and findings on earthquakes III -- Crisis severity and impact: concepts and model -- Crisis intensity and fallout: findings on earthquakes IV -- Structure and stability: concepts and model -- Findings on the polarity-stability nexus -- Ethiopian (Abyssinian) War 1934-36, multipolarity, Africa -- Berlin Blockade 1948-49, bipolarity, Europe -- Bangladesh 1971, bipolycentrism, Asia -- Gulf War I 1990-91, unipolycentrism, Middle East -- Coping/crisis management: findings on earthquakes V -- What have we learned?

Crises in World Politics.