Why have Israelis and Palestinians failed to achieve a two-state solution to the conflict that has cost so much and lasted so long? In his new book Ian Lustick brings fifty years as an analyst of the Arab-Israeli dispute to bear on this question. He offers a radical and provocative explanation of why continued attempts to divide the land will have no more success than would negotiations to establish a one-state solution.

Israeli Jews and Palestinian Arabs can enjoy the democracy they deserve but only after decades of struggle amid the unintended but powerful consequences of today’s one-state reality.