Grant F. Smith, director of the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy in Washington, D.C., discusses the Council on Foreign Relations book Start-Up Nation: The Story of Israel’s Economic Miracle; the idea that the Israeli socialist Sparta makes an exemplary model for economic growth, where national conscription breeds cohesiveness and innovation; how the CFR conveniently ignores the transfer of military technology, industrial espionage and favorable trade agreements; and the divide within CFR between Israel-firsters and those devoted to more honest assessments, even when Israel looks bad because of them.
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