Book reviews 717 is a rather brief account, based largely on the compilation of such material, of changes that have already been overtaken to a considerable extent by the further development of the Hun- garian economy since 1992. A. H. Dawson liniuersity of St Andrews, St Andrews, F$e KY16 9AJ, UK zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA Peace in the Middle East: The Challenge for Israel. Special Issue of Israel Affair, Vol. 1, No. 1, Autumn, 1994. Frank Cass; London. 170~~. Writing about peace has become a major growth industry in Israel since the signing of the first Oslo Accords in September, 1993. Peace narra- tives, like the peace process itself, have under- gone changes as initial optimism and euphoria have given way to more cautious assessment of the realities of translating peace agreements on paper into realities on the ground. Nowhere has this been more apparent than in the Oslo II Accords, signed and implemented in the latter part of 1995. These Accords have been difficult to implement because of the territorial dis- continuity and spatial exclaves which it has created. Moreover, opponents of the peace process have increased acts of violence aimed at the civilian populations of the other, thus reducing the degree of public support initially enjoyed by these moves towards conflict resolution. The first issue of a new journal, Israel Affairs, is devoted to the issue of peace in the Middle East. A collection of ten papers discuss various aspects of the peace process, ranging from internal issues, such as the effect of peace on Israel’s economy and its professional structure, to external issues, such as foreign policy mak- ing, the Jewish diaspora and the relationships with both the USA and Europe. Multidisciplinary in its structure, the special issue includes two contributions by geogra- phers. In a paper on the boundaries of peace, Moshe Brawer provides an overview of some of the problems facing Israeli negotiators in attempting to draw up future boundaries under a final territorial arrangement with all of her neighbours. Brawer reviews the factors which have influenced the demarcation of boundaries, armistice lines and security zones during the past century, noting the economic and social dislocation effects of lines which were imposed upon the landscape as a result of conflict and warfare. In determining future boundaries, Brawer makes particular note of security issues with respect to Syria, and the location and control of scarce water resources with respect to the West Bank. In another geographical contribution, Elisha Efrat discusses the role of Jewish settlements in the West Bank. These settlements which have been founded continuously since 1967, now contain over 100000 residents and are one of the main issues to be raised in the final territorial negotiations between Israel and the recently elected Palestinian Authority. Efrat reviews the history of the settlement process, noting the changing attitudes towards settlement policy by Israeli governments of varying political colours. He argues that the lack of overall planning has left the Jewish settler population very widely spread throughout the region. If any of these settlements are to remain under a Final territorial arrangement, these will only consist of the major urban centres and townships which are to be found in the western parts of the region, closest to the Israeli metropolitan centres of pre-I967 Israel. All of the papers in this volume are highly descriptive in nature. IF this first issue is any- thing to go by, then the journal is aimed at readers with an interest in the particularistic and unique characteristics of Israeli society. Little attention is paid to theory or any form of comparative analysis of the Israel-Palestine peace process with other case studies of con- flict resolution and the creation of spaces of peace. Thus the audience is limited to those who have a particular interest in this specific society. Sorely lacking are any contributions by Arab or Palestinian social scientists. Moreover, the essays all deal with the implications of the peace process For Israeli and Jewish society, com- pletely ignoring the impact on West Bank Palestinian and/or Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel. This lack of balance is apparent in much of the academic discourse which has been undertaken during the past 40 years concerning the Arab-Israel conflict. Narratives have been separate and competing, rather than shared. albeit contested, within a single academic frame of communication.