BESA Studies in International Security
About the Book Series
BESA Studies in International Security is a series of high-quality scholarly books on international security mainly focused on the Middle East, though not solely. Grounded in theoretical foundations, the series provides an analysis of the forces, trends, and dilemmas facing decision-makers in the realm of foreign policy and national security. The series is designed to be accessible to a broad audience, both professional and academic, as well as to students.
Post-Soviet Conflicts: Politics, Ethnicity, and Warfare
1st Edition
Edited
By Vladimir (Ze'ev) Khanin, Petr Oskolkov
June 08, 2026
This edited book offers an overview of how political structures, ethnic tensions, and emerging warfare continue to shape the region within the borders of the former Soviet Union. Bringing together Israeli, European, and US scholars, the volume traces decades of conflict dynamics across Eastern ...
Great Power Intervention in Civil Wars: Strategic Denial of Rivals in the Middle East and North Africa
1st Edition
By Hogr Tarkhani
February 24, 2026
This book examines the motivations behind the interventions of the United States and Russia in civil wars throughout the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Based on a comprehensive qualitative analysis of case studies in Syria, Libya, Yemen, and Sudan (2011–2024), the book demonstrates how the ...
Israel’s Civil-Military Relations and Security Sector Reform: Lessons for Conflict-Affected Societies
1st Edition
By Ian Westerman
June 27, 2025
This book examines Israel’s civil-military relations (CMR) in order to explore alternatives to orthodox Western models of security sector reform (SSR) in post-conflict societies. This book argues that the guidelines of SSR have always tended to draw on theoretical work in the field of CMR and focus...
US Foreign Policy and Global Standing in the 21st Century: Realities and Perceptions
1st Edition
Edited
By Efraim Inbar, Jonathan Rynhold
May 25, 2017
This book examines US foreign policy and global standing in the 21st Century. The United States is the most powerful actor in world politics today. Against this backdrop, the present volume examines how the foreign policies pursued by Presidents’ George W. Bush and Barack Obama have affected elite ...
The New Citizen Armies: Israel’s Armed Forces in Comparative Perspective
1st Edition
Edited
By Stuart A. Cohen
April 09, 2015
This edited book constitutes the first detailed attempt at a comparative international analysis of the transformations that are currently affecting the composition of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and their place in Israeli society. Focusing primarily on deviations from the ...
The Arab Spring, Democracy and Security: Domestic and International Ramifications
1st Edition
Edited
By Efraim Inbar
September 11, 2014
This volume analyzes the political, economic and strategic dimensions of the recent upheavals in the Middle East known as the Arab Spring. Mass demonstrations in many Arab states challenged the political status quo and the existing political and cultural system in the region. While it is too early ...
Israeli Statecraft: National Security Challenges and Responses
1st Edition
By Yehezkel Dror
December 14, 2012
This book offers a systematic examination, analysis and evaluation of Israeli national security statecraft in terms of challenges and responses. Providing an in-depth analysis of Israeli statecraft challenges and responses, this interdisciplinary book integrates social science and security studies...
US-Israeli Relations in a New Era: Issues and Challenges after 9/11
1st Edition
Edited
By Eytan Gilboa, Efraim Inbar
December 06, 2010
This book examines in depth the fundamental problems, factors and issues in current US-Israeli relations, which will have implications both for the Middle East and for world peace and prosperity. The US and Israel have established an exceptional relationship, which has significant effects on ...
Radical Islam and International Security: Challenges and Responses
1st Edition
Edited
By Efraim Inbar, Hillel Frisch
March 02, 2009
Radical Islam poses a political challenge in the modern world which is like that of no other radical religious movement. Ideologically, it is perceived by Western policy makers as threatening the liberal-democratic ideology by which most states in the West abide and which most other states ...
Religion in World Conflict
1st Edition
Edited
By Jonathan Fox, Shmeul Sandler
January 25, 2008
This new book tackles two crucial questions: First, how does religion in its various forms and manifestations influence world politics? Second, how will adding religion to the discourse on international relations modify our theoretical understanding? Each of these leading authors addresses ...
Democracies and Small Wars
1st Edition
Edited
By Efraim Inbar
August 30, 2003
By their nature, democracies clearly have greater constraints than autocratic regimes on their freedom of action as they have to meet constitutional, legal and moral criteria in their use of force. This collection analyses a number of case studies showing how democracies have won small wars....