Book review: polarized and demobilized: legacies of authoritarianism in Palestine by Dana El Kurd

In Polarized and Demobilized: Legacies of Authoritarianism in Palestine, Dana El Kurd examines how the increased involvement of international powers in Palestinian politics has insulated Palestinian elites from the public and strengthened their ability to engage in authoritarian practices, leading to polarisation and the weakening of the capacity for collective action. Combining theoretical sophistication with a seamless narrative, this is one of the most astute empirical analyses of authoritarianism in the region, writes Hesham Shafick.