Michael N. Barnett is Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Wisconsin. The dissertation on which this book was based won the 1991 Gabriel Almond Prize of the American Political Science Association.

"Michael Barnett has a rare ability to combine sustained comparison, subtle theorizing, and careful analysis of particular histories. While illuminating Israeli and Egyptian experiences, he refreshes our general understanding of the interplay among war, state resources, and social constraints. Read him either to know Middle Eastern politics, to clarify alternative paths of political change, or better, both."---Charles Tilly, New School for Social Research --- "Confronting the Costs of War is an impressive, challenging study which traces the link between war preparation and state power in Egypt and Israel. . . . This book is a very important contribution to Middle Eastern studies because it approaches existing literature from a broader theoretical perspective."---Lawrence Tal, The Times Higher Education Supplement --- "Winner of the 1993 Quincy Wright Award for the Best Book in International Affairs by a Midwest Scholar"