Written a couple of years ago by a teacher in Israel immersed in the history of Israel, the teachings of Judaism, and the Zionist project, NECESSITY OF EXILE explores the contradictions between religion and politics in a way that alternates between anxiety and optimism. A refreshing review of many issues that politicians and media all too often simplify and distort.
A timely, progressive collection of essays on the Jewish relationship to Zionism and exile.
What is exile? What is diaspora? What is Zionism? Jewish identity today has been shaped by prior generations' answers to these questions, and the future of Jewish life will depend on how we respond to them in our own time. In The Necessity of Exile: Essays from a Distance, celebrated rabbi and scholar Shaul Magid offers an essential contribution to this intergenerational process, inviting us to rethink our current moment through religious and political resources from the Jewish tradition.
Our world is shaped by the karma of two world wars and two great revolutions that took place in the first half of the 20th century. In many studies the regional, even the global context of the Chinese revolution is subordinated to internal Chinese dynamics. This book goes into extensive detail about Russo-Japanese relations. The author followed up in 2023 with STALIN, JAPAN, AND THE STRUGGLE FOR SUPREMACY IN CHINA in which he analyzes Russo-Japanese collaboration and conflict over which nation would exercise dominant influence over China. The US was also involved but at a distance, having no geographical proximity to China. In the end the Chinese ended up in full control of their own country, and so have remained to this day, perhaps because World War Two eliminated Japan and left Russia too weak to play more than a supporting role in the first decade of the Chinese revolution 1949-1959. Similarly India broke free of British control after World War Two left Britain too weak to administer its empire.
Even the best books on international history are ignorant of the secret war against the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union waged jointly by the Caucasian peoples and Japan in the first half of the twentieth century. This book explores and exposes previously unknown passages in Eurasian international history. Although the secret war ultimately failed in liberating the Caucasian peoples, the lessons of this Eurasian collaboration were not lost on the United States, which after World War II confronted the Soviet Union just as Japan had earlier. Washington copied the strategy of its former enemy and developed it further. The…
It explains the limits of discourse about major world events as well as the opportunities for discussion in alternative venues, an important escape valve.
How do think tanks influence Western policies toward Russia? The influence of think tanks in Washington has grown immensely over the past decades in terms of producing research papers, engaging with the media, and having their staff enter government.
The ideal purpose and appeal of think tanks is their ability to function as a bridge between academics, the media, the public, and decision-makers. Political decision-makers are expected to be experts across a wide area of governance which becomes increasingly difficult as the world becomes more complex. Acquiring advice and enhancing competencies through cooperation with scholars at universities can be challenging…
