Throughout the book, Hirst goes into a death roll, spraying chunks of Zionist flesh from his maw as he spins through decades of history. That idea is how Israel is seen as responsible for all the evils in the Arab world. Hirst is an intellectual alligator, a reptilian predator who grabs one idea in his jaws.

I began reading “Beware of Small States,” thinking that a journalist like Hirst might provide readers with an objective analysis of the situation in Lebanon.įorget about it. I was thinking of how the term “Libanisation” (Lebanonization) has replaced “Balkanization” in the French language as a way to describe “the process of fragmentation of a state as a result of confrontation between diverse communities.” I wondered how this fragmentation came to be. I was thinking of how Lebanon has come to represent the most extreme forms of sectarianism, tribalism and political intrigue in the Middle East. So, why was I surprised when his latest book, “Beware of Small States: Lebanon, Battleground of the Middle East” (Nation Books), turned out to be a 448-page indictment of Israel, instead of a comprehensive history of Lebanon? Shame on me! What was I thinking? And, he’s the author of “The Gun and the Olive Branch,” a virulent anti-Israel history of the Middle East. Powerful and often moving, Beware of Small States is a magisterial book, essential reading for understanding Lebanon or the current political climate of the Middle East.British journalist David Hirst is described by no less an authority than Edward Said as “a lifelong sympathizer with the Palestinian tragedy.” Hirst has been stationed for decades in Beirut, where he has served as Middle East correspondent for the Guardian newspaper. In a masterly narrative, he gives a much-needed, comprehensive history of the country and its conflicts, culminating with the recent war in Gaza and its fallout in Lebanon. Iran and Israel now face each other in the hills of south Lebanon.David Hirst, author of The Gun and the Olive Branch, is a hugely respected commentator on the Arab-Israeli crisis. To understand Lebanon's history is to understand the history of the entire region - and, with the rise of Hizbullah, it has come to assume a disproportionate, dangerous power of its own. Throughout its short existence, it has been attacked, invaded, occupied or interfered with to serve the political interests of foreign powers, resulting a series of devastating wars and crises.

He could have meant Lebanon: a sectarian state no bigger than Wales that has become battleground for one of the defining conflicts of twentieth-century history. 'Beware of Small States' wrote Mikhail Bukanin in 1870.

Beware of Small States by David Hirst