Synopses & Reviews
Long-awaited,
War Against the People is a powerful indictment of the Israeli state’s “securocratic” war in the Palestinian Occupied Territories. Anthropologist and activist Jeff Halper draws on firsthand research to show the pernicious effects of the subliminal form of unending warfare conducted by Israel, an approach that relies on sustaining fear among the populace, fear that is stoked by suggestions that the enemy is inside the city limits, leaving no place truly safe and justifying the intensification of military action and militarization in everyday life. Eventually, Halper shows, the integration of militarized systems—including databases tracking civilian activity, automated targeting systems, unmanned drones, and more—becomes seamless with everyday life. And the Occupied Territories, Halper argues, is a veritable laboratory for that approach.
Halper goes on to show how this method of war is rapidly globalizing, as the major capitalist powers and corporations transform militaries, security agencies, and police forces into an effective instrument of global pacification. Simultaneously a deeply researched exposé and a clarion call, War Against the People is a bold attempt to shine the light on the daily injustices visited on a civilian population —and thus hasten their end.
Review
“Military and security organizations are rebuilding the social and political space in which we live. Anyone who wants to understand this process should read this book. It is not only a key to deciphering Israeli policies in Palestine, but also one of the clearest explanations that I have ever read on how important Israel/Palestine is in the world….Jeff Halper's book addresses with clarity and structure one of the most complex and yet extremely important topics of the securitization of our society. His book has opened my eyes, and was a fascinating read.”
Review
Praise for previous work: “An inspiration. His voice cries out to be heard.”
Review
“This is an important book for anyone who cares about peace, the plight of the Palestinian people, and the role of Israel in the world of war. Halper’s fascinating thesis places the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories at the heart of its role in the transnational military-industrial complex and what he calls the pacification industry. A brave, analytical, and innovative book from an admirable activist and thinker.”
Review
“Halper's essay on Israel's 'matrix of control’ is classic, even canonical. Now, in War Against the People, he radicalizes the argument to develop a deeply disturbing vision of what he calls 'securocratic wars in global battlespace.' A rare combination of theoretical imagination, empirical sensitivity, and political passion.”
Review
“In this cogently written and extremely informative book, Jeff Halper explores Israel's key role in the ‘global pacification industry.’ The resulting alliances not only enable Israel to perpetuate the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip; the latter's function as a human laboratory for Israel's ‘matrix of control’ additionally makes the occupation indispensable to Israel's security industry and global positioning. War Against the People is an excellent, revealing, and accessible examination of Israel's ‘security politics’ and the changing nature of pacification worldwide in the twenty-first century.”
Review
“A brilliant book whose depth of political insight is driven by the spirit of one of the world’s most inspiring political activists. It lays out the way in which Israel’s war on the Palestinians has become both a model and the laboratory for a global war against the people.”
Review
“This profoundly important and well-researched study serves as a reminder that US-backed Israeli militarism and its devastating humanitarian impact are neither unique nor to be seen in isolation. Halper convincingly argues that it is part of an even more disturbing global phenomenon that goes well beyond Israel which threatens the lives and civil liberties not just of Palestinians, but of people around the world.”
Synopsis
Some have claimed that "War is too important to be left to the generals," but P. W. Singer asks "What about the business executives?" Breaking out of the guns-for-hire mold of traditional mercenaries, corporations now sell skills and services that until recently only state militaries possessed. Their products range from trained commando teams to strategic advice from generals. This new "Privatized Military Industry" encompasses hundreds of companies, thousands of employees, and billions of dollars in revenue. Whether as proxies or suppliers, such firms have participated in wars in Africa, Asia, the Balkans, and Latin America. More recently, they have become a key element in U.S. military operations. Private corporations working for profit now sway the course of national and international conflict, but the consequences have been little explored.
In Corporate Warriors, Singer provides the first account of the military services industry and its broader implications. Corporate Warriors includes a description of how the business works, as well as portraits of each of the basic types of companies: military providers that offer troops for tactical operations; military consultants that supply expert advice and training; and military support companies that sell logistics, intelligence, and engineering.
This updated edition of Singer's already classic account of the military services industry and its broader implications describes the continuing importance of that industry in the Iraq War. This conflict has amply borne out Singer's argument that the privatization of warfare allows startling new capabilities and efficiencies in the ways that war is carried out. At the same time, however, Singer finds that the introduction of the profit motive onto the battlefield raises troubling questions--for democracy, for ethics, for management, for human rights, and for national security.
About the Author
Jeff Halper is the head of ICAHD, the Israeli Committee against House Demolitions, and the author of a number of books, including An Israeli in Palestine, also published by Pluto Press.