The International Self: Psychoanalysis And the Search for Israeli-Palestinian Peace (Suny Series in Israeli Studies) - Softcover

Sucharov, Mira M.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0791465063 ISBN 13: 9780791465066

Publisher: State University of New York Press, 2006

Synopsis

The International Self explores an age-old question in international affairs, one that has been particularly pressing in the context of the contemporary Middle East: what leads long-standing adversaries to seek peace? Mira M. Sucharov employs a socio-psychoanalytic model to argue that collective identity ultimately shapes foreign policy and policy change. Specifically, she shows that all states possess a distinctive role-identity that tends to shape behavior in the international realm. When policy deviates too greatly from the established role-identity, the population experiences cognitive dissonance and expresses this through counternarratives--an unconscious representation of what the polity collectively fears in itself--propelling political elites to realign the state's policy with its identity. Focusing on Israel's decision to embark on negotiations leading to the 1993 agreement with the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), Sucharov sees this policy reversal as a reaction to the unease generated by two events in the 1980s--the war in Lebanon and the first Palestinian Intifada--that contradicted Israelis' perceptions of their state as a "defensive warrior." Her argument bridges the fields of conflict resolution, Middle East studies, and international relations.

About this title

Review:

"Sucharov provides a genuine contribution to contemporary debates in international relations theory. Her application of psychoanalysis to international conflict and peace studies is entirely new and will promote further research in this area."

Synopsis:

Uses a social-psychoanalytic model to argue that collective identity shapes foreign policy changes.

About this edition

• Publisher: State University of New York Press
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 0791465063
• ISBN 13: 9780791465066
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 244