Ira Sharkansky is professor emeritus of political science and public administration at Hebrew University.
His books, which are available on Amazon, include:
*Alternative federal solutions to the problem of the administered territories
*Ambiguity, Coping, and Governance: Israeli Experiences in Politics, Religion, and Policymaking
*Ancient and Modern Israel: An Exploration of Political Parallels
*Coping with Terror: An Israeli Perspective
* Governing Israel: Chosen People, Promised Land and Prophetic Tradition
*Governing Jerusalem: Again on the World’s Agenda
* Israel and its Bible: A Political Analysis
* Maligned States: policy accomplishments, problems and opportunities
* Policy Analysis in Political Science
* Policy and Politics in American Governments
* Policy Making in Israel: Routines for Simple Problems and Coping with the Complex
* Politics and Planning in the Holy City
* Politics and Policymaking in Search of Simplicity
* Public Administration: Agencies, Policies, and Politics
* Public Administration Policy Making in Government Agencies
* Public Administration (2nd Edition): Policy Making in Government Agencies
* Regionalism in American Politics
* Rituals of Conflict: Religion, Politics, and Public Policy in Israel
* Spending in the American States
* The Policy Predicament: Making and Implementing Public Policy
* The Political Economy of Israel
* The Politics of Religion and the Religion of Politics
*The Politics of Taxing and Spending
* The Routines of Politics
* The United States: A Study of a Developing Country
* The United States Revisited: A Study of a Still Developing Country
* Urban Politics and Public Policy [Robert Lineberry]
* What Makes Israel Tick: How Domestic Policy-Makers Cope with Restraints
* Wither the State: Politics and Public Enterprise in Three Countries
By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM–The international media is filled with material on Libya and Japan, with no clear news on either. The Japan disaster is still short of apocalyptic, but not beyond catastrophe. The worrying news about Libya is that the British Prime Minister and his Chief of the Defense Staff have different war aims, while […]
Tensions ratchet up on Israel’s border with Gaza Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle EastBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM–Remember John Kennedy’s sending advisors to protect the South Vietnamese and the rest of Southeast Asia from Communism, Lyndon Johnson’s escalation after the attack on American ships in the Gulf of Tonkin, George W. Bush’s explanation for attacking Iraq and his later declaration of victory, as well as pronouncements and claims about
Disquieting questions about U.S. objectives in Libya Read More »
Ira SharkanskyBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM –We know who the bad guy is in Libya. He has been bizarre and violent for 40 years. For much of that time the great powers have been going along. The record features Britain’s freeing of a man intimately involved in the Lockarbie bombing on a flimsy claim of ill health,
U.S. goals in Libya, other Mideast trouble spots, contradictory Read More »
Ira SharkanskyBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — It would be timely for Barack Obama, Thomas Friedman, and their chorus mates to leave the Middle East to those who know more about it. Friedman’s own newspaper, The New York Times, calls Saudi Arabia America’s most important Arab ally, and indicates that leaders of that country “have made no
U.S. Mideast actions displeasing to Saudis, other allies Read More »
Ira SharkanskyBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM–A spurt of angry speech and activity that leaves little behind, or a spark of change in direction? After the Sabbath killing of five members of the Fogel family in the settlement Itamar: Israeli politicians across the spectrum from right to left expressed revulsion and rage. The Prime Minister, in a public
The ripple effects of political murders Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle EastBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — A short while ago I posted a column about the lack of media attention to Israel. A few hours later five members of a family in a Jewish settlement, including a two month old infant, were slaughtered on the Sabbath. The earthquake in Japan and the possibility of radioactive clouds
Slaughter of settler family makes achievement of Mideast peace more unlikely Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle EastBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM–You’ve heard that Jews control the media. An exaggeration. Influence, maybe. Jews are out of proportion in positions of management and as media personalities. But there are different kinds of Jews. International conspiracy linked to Zionism? Not with J-Street, Peace Now, AIPAC, the settlers, and who knows how many other organizations competing
What’s that old saw about ‘no news’ being … ? Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle EastBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM–There are those for whom the term “social science” is a contradiction in terms. There are few cases where my colleagues in political science, sociology, economics, psychology and our cousins have results at the level of the best work by physicists or chemists. “Medical science” also provokes doubt, especially when patients die
Here are 3 helpful tools for analyzing national leaders Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, USABy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — The French and Russian revolutions gave rise to a rich literature about the stages of revolution. Not surprisingly, there is considerable argument about what happened in each stage, and when each revolution ended and a stable regime appeared. Truth be said, history never stops. There is always another stage in
Revolutions wend in their own directions; democracy an unlikely result in Islamic world Read More »
Ira SharkanskyBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM–It’s happened again. Within a day of the Prime Minister Netanyahu talking about pursuing a temporary solution for Israel and Palestine, the leader of the Palestine Authority has rejected the idea. So much for negotiations. The history of rejection goes back a long way, with a prominent landmark being the Khartoum Declaration
Palestinians once again reject negotiations Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle EastBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM–Among the lessons we can tentatively parse from the current commotion in Muslim countries are possible clarifications about the murky overlap between international law and international politics. Notice the extreme lack of certainty, suitable for any discussion of international law and politics. Much more than domestic law in well ordered countries,
Middle East turmoil shows shortcomings of international law Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle EastBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM _- The best that Israeli policymakers can do in the context of what is happening in the region is to say little and to do virtually nothing. And the best that interested outsiders can do is to avoid dreaming that this is the time for Israel and Palestine to negotiate seriously
With Middle East in tumult, now is not the time to press Israelis and Palestiniana Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle EastBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM–There is not much of local importance in the news. Monday night’s prime time headlined the tragedy of a young Israeli traveler in the wrong place at the wrong time in Christchurch, someone yelling “Free Palestine” and “Apartheid” who was hustled from the room where Foreign Minister Lieberman was about to address
Catching up on reading on a slow news day Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle EastBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM–Israel is never far from the world’s headlines, but it is enjoying something of a breather. Muslims from Mauritania and Morocco to Pakistan are dealing with issues more pressing than their conventional assertions about Palestine. Palestinians have troubles that, arguably, are greater than Israel. Gazans have a regime that is serious about Islamic law,
Israel relatively peaceful oasis in roiled Middle East Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle East