The Global History of the Balfour Declaration : Declared Nation

This book is a global microhistorical examination of the Balfour Declaration, the document that set the stage for the creation of the state of Israel. The book demonstrates that the Declaration developed and contributed to a juncture in a global dialogue about the nature and definition of nation at the outset of the 20th century. Tackling the relationship of gender, race, nation and empire, the book posits that the Declaration was a specific tool designed by the manipulation of these ideas. Once established, moreover, it helped, and hindered, established imperial powers, nascent imperial powers, and emerging nationalist movements to advocate for their own vision of national definition.

This book examines the development and issuance of the Balfour Declaration, the document that set the stage for the creation of the state of Israel, within its global setting. The heart of the book demonstrates that the Declaration developed and contributed to a juncture in a global dialogue about the nature and definition of nation at the outset of the twentieth century. Embedded in this examination are gendered, racial, nationalistic, and imperial considerations. The work posits that the Balfour Declaration was a specific tool designed by the manipulation of these ideas. Once established, the Declaration helped, and hindered, established imperial powers like the British, nascent imperial powers like the Japanese and Indians, and emerging nationalist movements like the Zionists, Irish, Palestinians, and East Africans, to advocate for their own vision of national definition.