Lebanon and Israel/Palestine are two political entities that expanded in 1920 and 1967 respectively, and became divided societies characterized by periods of stability and conflict. This book provides the first detailed comparison between the two states and also explores the effects of their expansion on their changing relations. It looks first at how both expanded states attempted to cope with their predicaments, focusing on the relationship between state, community and security, before moving on to analyze the de-stabilizing effects of expansion on Israeli-Lebanese relations. The book draws on previously unpublished official documents, memoirs, media resources and films produced in Lebanon and Israel/Palestine, in addition to existing works on the two states and the Middle East. Bridging the gap between comparative politics and international relations, it will interest students of Lebanon and Israel/Palestine, the Middle East, and conflict and peace.

‘Oren Barak undertakes a remarkable comparison of two states established to reflect and represent tight-knit communities - Jews in Israel and Maronite Christians in Lebanon. In each case, something went terribly wrong on the way to becoming nation-states. State expansion by Israel in 1967 and by Lebanon in 1920 ended up crippling the state, undermining security, and leading to divided societies. State Expansion and Conflict is a tour de force, demonstrating the dark dangers of state ambition and enlargement.'

Joel Migdal - University of Washington

‘Thoroughly researched and elegantly written, this book offers a thought-provoking and highly instructive comparison between the state's expansion and its consequences in Israel/Palestine and in Lebanon, whose shared border has, from 1967 onwards, become one of the major arenas of the Arab-Israeli conflict. The broader insights provided in this book will be of interest to students of conflict and peace in the Middle East and beyond, and its conclusions are bound to generate debate in both divided societies that, as Oren Barak persuasively shows, are much more similar than one might think.'

Asher Kaufman - University of Notre Dame, Indiana