Israeli Diplomacy and Foreign Policy_Syllabus 2017

Israeli Diplomacy & Foreign Policy Dr. Emmanuel Navon Syllabus 2017

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International BA in Government

Israeli Diplomacy and Foreign Policy

Dr. Emmanuel Navon

Spring Semester, 2017

1. Course Description:

This class provides both a historical survey and a contextual analysis of Israel’s foreign policy from

1948 to our days. We will address the foreign policy dilemmas of Israel’s founding fathers; the

evolution of the Arab-Israeli conflict; Israel’s foreign policy toward Europe, the United States, the

Soviet Union/Russia, Asia, Africa and Latin America; and topical issues such as Israel’s relations

with the Jewish Diasporas and the UN, as well as Israel’s strategy in the global geopolitics of

energy.

2. Course Details and Lecturer's Contacts:

Thursdays, from 11:30 am to 1 pm Email: [email protected] Social media: /emmanuelnavon Assistant : Nina Slama ([email protected])

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]


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3. Assignments and Grading:

Attendance is required and will be taken. Students who miss more than two classes (without a

justification) will be barred from taking the final exam, in accordance with the IDC's regulations.

Final grade: exam at the end of the semester (80%) + class discussion/participation (20%).

4. Reference Books:

Avner, Yehuda. The Prime Ministers: An Intimate Narrative of Israeli Leadership. Toby Press,

2010.

Bialer, Uri. Between East and West: Israel's Foreign Policy Orientation 1948-1956. Cambridge

University Press, 1990.

Eban, Abba. Personal Witness: Israel Through My Eyes. Putnam's Sons, 1992.

Herzog, Chaim. The Arab-Israeli Wars: War and Peace in the Middle East from the War of

Independence through Lebanon. Vintage Books, 1984.

Hoffman, Bruce. Anonymous Soldiers: The Struggle for Israel, 1917-1947. Alfred Knopf, 2015.

Morris, Benny. Righteous Victims: A History of the Zionist-Arab Conflict 1881-1998. Knopf, 1999.

Navon, Emmanuel. A Plight Among the Nations. Israel's Foreign Policy Between Nationalism and

Realism. VDM Verlag, 2009.

Oren, Michael. Six Days of War: June 1967 and the Making of the Modern Middle East. Oxford

University Press, 2002.

Ross, Dennis. The Missing Peace: The Inside Story of the Fight for Middle East Peace. Farrar,

Straus and Giroux, 2004.

Sofer, Sasson. Zionism and the Foundations of Israeli Diplomacy. Cambridge University Press,

1998.

Van Creveld, Martin. The Land of Blood and Honey. The Rise of Modern Israel. St Martin's Press,

2010.


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5. Schedule and Readings:

Class 1 (30 March): Israel’s Founding Fathers and the Idealism vs. Realism Dilemma

Emmanuel Navon, A Plight among the Nations: Israel’s Foreign Policy between Nationalism and

Realism (VDM Verlag, 2009), pp. 68-80.

Sasson Sofer, Zionism and the Foundations of Israeli Diplomacy (Cambridge University Press,

1998), pp. 28-55.

Class 2 (20 April): Israel and the Middle-East at the Beginning of the Cold War

Uri Bialer, Between East and West: Israel’s Foreign Policy Orientation, 1948-1956 (Cambridge

University Press, 1990), pp. 1-34.

Emmanuel Navon, The Victory of Zionism: Reclaiming the Narrative about Israel’s Domestic,

Regional, and International Challenges (CreateSpace, 2014), pp. xlvi-liii.

Class 3 (27 April): Israel’s “Periphery Strategy”

Avi Shlaim, The Iron Wall: Israel and the Arab World (Norton & Company, 2000), pp. 186-217.

Ofir Haivry, “Israel in the Eye of the Hurricane,” Mosaic Magazine, January 2014.

Class 4 (4 May): The Arab-Israeli Conflict: From the “Iron Wall” to the “New Middle East”

Benny Morris, Righteous Victims: A History of the Zionist-Arab Conflict, 1881-1999 (Knopf, 1999),

pp. 652-669.

Emmanuel Navon, A Plight among the Nations, pp. 310-324.

Class 5 (11 May): Israel’s Foreign Policy toward Europe

Rosemary Hollis, “The Politics of Israeli-European Economic Relations.” Israel Affairs 1/1 (1994),

pp. 96-117.

Emmanuel Navon, A Plight among the Nations, pp. 111-119, 171-183, 258-267.


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Class 6 (18 May): Israel’s Foreign Policy toward the United States

Yaacov Bar Siman-Tov, “The United States and Israel Since 1998: A Special Relationship?”

Diplomatic History 22/2 (Spring 1998).

Emmanuel Navon, “From Kippur to Oslo: Israel’s Foreign Policy 1973-1993.” Israel Affairs 10/3

(2004), pp. 21-23.

Class 7 (25 May): Israel’s Foreign Policy toward the Soviet Union/Russia

Abba Eban, Personal Witness: Israel Through My Eyes (Putnam, 1992), pp. 231-241.


(2004), pp. 26-28.

Class 8 (1 June): Israel’s Foreign Policy toward Asia

Surjit Singh, “Indo-Israel Relations: A Study of Some Aspects of India’s Foreign Policy.” Journal of

Indian History 57/2-3 (1979), pp. 387-399.

Yiyzhak Shichor, “Hide and Seek: Sino-Israeli Relations in Perspective.” Israel Affairs 1/2 (1994),

pp. 188-209.

Class 9 (8 June): Israel’s Foreign Policy toward Africa

Naomi Hazan, “Israel in Africa.” The Jerusalem Quarterly 18 (Winter 1981), pp. 29-45.


(2004), pp. 31-34.

Class 10 (15 June): Israel’s Foreign Policy toward Latin America

C.A. Rubenberg, “Israeli Foreign Policy in Latin America.” Third World Quarterly 8/2 (1986), pp.

896-915.

Emmanuel Navon, A Plight among the Nations, pp. 140-143, 203-209, 281-282.


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Class 11 (22 June): Israel and the Jewish Diaspora

Arthur Hertzberger, “Israel and the Diaspora: A Relationship Reexamined.” Israel Affairs 2/3-4

(1996), pp. 169-183.

Anthony Smith, “Zionism and Diaspora Nationalism.” Israel Affairs 2/2 (1995), pp. 1-20.

Class 12 (29 June): Israel and the United Nations

Emmanuel Mréjen (Navon), “Israel and the Reform of the UN.” Israel Affairs 5/1 (1998), pp. 63-

86.

Dore Gold, Tower of Babble (Crown Forum, 2004), pp. 91-110.

Class 13 (6 July): Israel and the Geopolitics of Energy

Emmanuel Navon, From Israel with Hope: Why and How Israel will Continue to Thrive (Balfour

Books, 2010), pp. 246-256.

Eugene Kandel & Netanel Oded, “Staring Down the Barrel: Israel’s Oil Problem.” Azure 45 (2011).

Documents

Israeli Diplomacy and Foreign Policy_Syllabus 2017