'Oren Barak undertakes a remarkable comparison of two states established to reflect and represent tight-knit communities - Jews in Israel and Maronite Christians in Lebanon. In each case, something went terribly wrong on the way to becoming nation-states. State expansion by Israel in 1967 and by Lebanon in 1920 ended up crippling the state, undermining security, and leading to divided societies. State Expansion and Conflict is a tour de force, demonstrating the dark dangers of state ambition and enlargement.' Joel Migdal, University of Washington