Ian Steven Lustick (born 1949) is an American
political scientist
Political science is the science, scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of politics, political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated c ...
and specialist on the modern history and politics of the
Middle East
The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...
. He currently holds the Bess W. Heyman Chair in the department of Political Sciences at the
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...
.
Early life and education
Lustick was born in 1949 in
Syracuse, New York
Syracuse ( ) is a City (New York), city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, Onondaga County, New York, United States. It is the fifth-most populous city in the state of New York following New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffa ...
. His father was a pediatrician and, eager to get out of the 'rat race' of metropolitan life, the family moved to the northern rural area of
Jefferson County's
Watertown Watertown may refer to:
Places in China
In China, a water town is a type of ancient scenic town known for its waterways.
Places in the United States
*Watertown, Connecticut, a New England town
**Watertown (CDP), Connecticut, the central village ...
, where his grandfather, unusually for a Jew, was a farmer. Lustick likened conditions there to those of a
shtetl
A shtetl or shtetel (; yi, שטעטל, translit=shtetl (singular); שטעטלעך, romanized: ''shtetlekh'' (plural)) is a Yiddish term for the small towns with predominantly Ashkenazi Jewish populations which existed in Eastern Europe before ...
, and he was occasionally the object of anti-Semitic harassment, though the family had a strong sense of patriotic attachment to the country, typical of Jewish immigrants of European background. On graduating from high school, he went on to
Brandeis University
, mottoeng = "Truth even unto its innermost parts"
, established =
, type = Private research university
, accreditation = NECHE
, president = Ronald D. Liebowitz
, pro ...
, arriving in 1967 just as a
countercultural
A counterculture is a culture whose values and norms of behavior differ substantially from those of mainstream society, sometimes diametrically opposed to mainstream cultural mores.Eric Donald Hirsch. ''The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy''. Hou ...
wave of
student activism was sweeping higher centres of learning.
He completed his Ph.D. at the
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...
in 1976 with a dissertation titled ''Arabs in the Jewish State: a study in the effective control of a minority population'' later adapted for a book of that title, published in 1980. He spent 1979-1980 as an
analyst, specializing in the problems of
Israel's occupation of the
Palestinian territories
The Palestinian territories are the two regions of the former British Mandate for Palestine that have been militarily occupied by Israel since the Six-Day War of 1967, namely: the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and the Gaza Strip. The I ...
, for the
Bureau of Intelligence and Research
The Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR) is an intelligence agency in the United States Department of State. Its central mission is to provide all-source intelligence and analysis in support of U.S. diplomacy and foreign policy. INR is ...
of the
Department of State, leaving in the summer of 1980 to return to academia.
Professional career
He was subsequently appointed professor of government at
Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native A ...
, where he taught for 15 years. He then took up a
Chair
A chair is a type of seat, typically designed for one person and consisting of one or more legs, a flat or slightly angled seat and a back-rest. They may be made of wood, metal, or synthetic materials, and may be padded or upholstered in vario ...
of the Political Science Department at the
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...
, where he held the Richard L. Simon Term Professor in the
Social Sciences
Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the original "science of soci ...
. At present Lustick is the Bess W. Heyman Professor of Political Science at the University of Pennsylvania.
He is a founder and past president of the
Association for Israel Studies and past president of the
American Political Science Association-Politics and History Section. Lustick became more broadly known with the publication of his book ''Trapped in the War on Terror'' (2006) in which he argues that the
War on Terrorism
The war on terror, officially the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT), is an ongoing international counterterrorism military campaign initiated by the United States following the September 11 attacks. The main targets of the campaign are militant I ...
is an irrational policy for fighting America's enemies. He argues that this policy was initially conceived of by a
neo-conservative
Neoconservatism is a political movement that began in the United States during the 1960s among liberal hawks who became disenchanted with the increasingly pacifist foreign policy of the Democratic Party and with the growing New Left and cou ...
cabal
A cabal is a group of people who are united in some close design, usually to promote their private views or interests in an ideology, a state, or another community, often by intrigue and usually unbeknownst to those who are outside their group. Th ...
at the
Project for a New American Century
The Project for the New American Century (PNAC) was a neoconservative[unilateralism
__NOTOC__
Unilateralism is any doctrine or agenda that supports one-sided action. Such action may be in disregard for other parties, or as an expression of a commitment toward a direction which other parties may find disagreeable. As a word, ''un ...](_blank)
. Given a number of political features unique to the US system, Lustick concluded, the War on Terror has ultimately turned into something beyond anyone's control.
He has engaged in research involving applications of evolutionary and complexity theory to the development of computer simulations using agent-based models for research and policy analysis. Between 2010 and the present day, Lustick has returned to some prominence by writing articles that variously called for Israel to negotiate with Hamas over the future of the area and said that the only way to resolve the war between Israelis and Palestinians was to implement a
one-state solution
The one-state solution, sometimes also called a bi-national state, is a proposed approach to resolving the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, according to which one state must be established between the River Jordan and the Mediterranean. Propone ...
.
He is a member of the
American Political Science Association
The American Political Science Association (APSA) is a professional association of political science students and scholars in the United States. Founded in 1903 in the Tilton Memorial Library (now Tilton Hall) of Tulane University in New Orleans, ...
, the
Association for Israel Studies, the
Middle East Studies Association
Middle East Studies Association (often referred to as MESA) is a learned society, and according to its website, "a non-profit association that fosters the study of the Middle East, promotes high standards of scholarship and teaching, and encoura ...
, and the
Council on Foreign Relations
The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an American think tank
A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, mi ...
.
Reception of his work
In a 1989 review of his early work the
anti-Zionist
Anti-Zionism is opposition to Zionism. Although anti-Zionism is a heterogeneous phenomenon, all its proponents agree that the creation of the modern State of Israel, and the movement to create a sovereign Jewish state in the region of Palestine ...
rabbi
Elmer Berger called Lustick a 'first-class Zionist academic', and praised his 'meticulous scholarship'.
In 1988 Lustick published his ''For the Land and the Lord'' a study of
religious fundamentalism
Fundamentalism is a tendency among certain groups and individuals that is characterized by the application of a strict literal interpretation to scriptures, dogmas, or ideologies, along with a strong belief in the importance of distinguishi ...
in Israel.
It appeared under the imprint of a series of monographs the
Council of Foreign Relations
The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an American think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy and international relations. Founded in 1921, it is a nonprofit organization that is independent and nonpartisan. CFR is based in New York City ...
considered a 'responsible treatment(s) of a significant international topic worthy of presentation to the public.' In this work, according to
Joel Brinkley, he suggested that, were it not for
Israel's on-going conflict with
its regional neighbours, Israel itself might find itself embroiled in a civil war between the opposing poles of
secular forces and
fundamentalist religious Zionists.
*Elmer Berger wrote that he knew of 'no better documented source in English for anyone interested in greater understanding of both the parties and the leading representatives of this phenomenon' (of Israeli religious fundamentalism). At the same time, he argued that Lustick shared shortcomings discernible in the works of Israel's
revisionist New Historians
The New Historians ( he, ההיסטוריונים החדשים, ''HaHistoryonim HaChadashim'') are a loosely defined group of Israeli historians who have challenged traditional versions of Israeli history, including Israel's role in the 1948 Pal ...
in that the
territorial expansionism and
racial discrimination
Racial discrimination is any discrimination against any individual on the basis of their skin color, race or ethnic origin.Individuals can discriminate by refusing to do business with, socialize with, or share resources with people of a certain g ...
documented as recent Zionist trends by the 1980s wave of young Zionist scholars - Lustick charts these traits as bursting into the secular mainstream of Israeli society with the emergence of messianic movements like
Gush Emunim
Gush Emunim ( he, גּוּשׁ אֱמוּנִים , ''Bloc of the Faithful'') was an Israeli ultranationalist Orthodox Jewish right-wing activist movement committed to establishing Jewish settlements in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and the Gol ...
in the 1970s -underplayed, minimized or whitewashed tendencies that were intrinsic to Zionism from its pristine beginnings.
In 2019 he came out with a new book ''
Paradigm Lost: From Two-State Solution to One-State Reality '' analyzes the origins and implications of the disappearance of the two-state solution.
*
George Washington University
, mottoeng = "God is Our Trust"
, established =
, type = Private federally chartered research university
, academic_affiliations =
, endowment = $2.8 billion (2022)
, preside ...
's
Nathan Brown stated in his review that he found the book "accessible, forceful, and concise. Its tone will rub some readers the wrong way but strike others as admirably frank."
Selected publications
*
*''State-building failure in British Ireland & French Algeria''. Berkeley, Calif. : Institute of International Studies, University of California, Berkeley, c1985. (x, 109 p.)
*
Israel's Dangerous Fundamentalists', by Ian S. Lustick, in ''Foreign Policy'', Number 68, Fall 1987, pp. 118–139
*
'. New York, N.Y. : Council on Foreign Relations, 1988.
*''Critical essays on Israeli society, politics, and culture'', editors Ian S. Lustick and Barry Rubin. Albany : State University of New York Press, c1991. (xi, 204 p.)
*''Unsettled states, disputed lands : Britain and Ireland, France and Algeria, Israel and the West Bank-Gaza''. Ithaca, N.Y. : Cornell University Press, 1993
*''Arab-Israeli relations : historical background and origins of the conflict'', edited with introductions by Ian S. Lustick. New York : Garland, 1994. (xiii, 409 p.)
*''Palestinians under Israeli rule'', edited with introductions by Ian S. Lustick. New York : Garland, 1994 (xiv, 333 p).
*''Economic, legal, and demographic dimensions of Arab-Israeli relations'', edited, with introductions by Ian S. Lustick. New York : Garland Pub., 1994. (xii, 349 p.)
*''Arab-Israeli relations in world politics'', edited with introductions by Ian S. Lustick. New York : Garland Pub., 1994. (xiii, 345 p.)
*''The Conflict with the Arabs in Israeli politics and society'', edited with introductions by Ian S. Lustick. New York : Garland, 1994. (xi, 369 p.)
*''The conflict with Israel in Arab politics and society'', edited with introductions by Ian S. Lustick. New York : Garland Pub., 1994. (xii, 393 p.)
*''From war to war : Israel vs. the Arabs, 1948-1967'', edited with introductions by Ian S. Lustick. New York : Garland Pub., 1994. (xii, 321 p.)
*''From wars toward peace in the Arab-Israeli conflict, 1969-1993'', edited with introductions by Ian S. Lustick. New York : Garland Pub., 1994. (xiii, 355 p.)
*"The absence of Middle Eastern great powers : political "backwardness" in historical perspective", ''
International Organization
An international organization or international organisation (see spelling differences), also known as an intergovernmental organization or an international institution, is a stable set of norms and rules meant to govern the behavior of states an ...
'', 1997 (51):4, pp. 653–683.
*"
Lijphart
Arend d'Angremond Lijphart (born 17 August 1936) is a Dutch-American political scientist specializing in comparative politics, elections and voting systems, democratic institutions, and ethnicity and politics. He is Research Professor Emeritus ...
,
Lakatos, and consociationalism", ''
World Politics The terms "world politics" or "global politics" may refer to:
*Geopolitics, the study of the effects of geography on politics and International Relations (IR)
*Global politics, a discipline of political science which focuses on political globalizati ...
'', 1997 (50):1, pp. 88–11
*''Right-sizing the state : the politics of moving borders'', edited by Brendan O'Leary, Ian S. Lustick and Thomas Callaghy. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001
*''Exile and return : predicaments of Palestinians and Jews'', edited by Ann M. Lesch and Ian S. Lustick. Philadelphia : University of Pennsylvania Press, c2005.
*
Trapped in the War on Terror'. Philadelphia : University of Pennsylvania Press, 2006. (xii, 186p.)
''Paradigm Lost: From Two-State Solution to One-State Reality.''University of Pennsylvania Press
The University of Pennsylvania Press (or Penn Press) is a university press affiliated with the University of Pennsylvania located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
The press was originally incorporated with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania on 26 Ma ...
, 2019.
See also
*
Historical institutionalism Historical institutionalism (HI) is a new institutionalist social science approach that emphasizes how timing, sequences and path dependence affect institutions, and shape social, political, economic behavior and change. Unlike functionalist the ...
www.paradigmlostbook.com
Notes
Citations
Sources
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External links
Ian S. Lustick website at the
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...
http://paradigmlostbook.com Ian Lustick*:
Harry Kreisler
Harry Kreisler () is an American historian who was formerly executive director of the Institute of International Studies at University of California, Berkeley.
He is best known as the creator and host of the television program Conversations with H ...
interviews Ian Lustick 2006 on the War on Terror
*:
Harry Kreisler
Harry Kreisler () is an American historian who was formerly executive director of the Institute of International Studies at University of California, Berkeley.
He is best known as the creator and host of the television program Conversations with H ...
interviews Ian Lustick 2002 on Coming to Terms with Israel
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lustick, Ian
1949 births
Living people
American political scientists
University of California, Berkeley alumni
University of Pennsylvania faculty