Quote Originally Posted by relative autonomy View Post
I would really suggest actually reading the book before you write it off. You may not agree with her world-systemic analysis but she gives a lot of insight into how armed groups operate and are funded. Also I bet there is some new information in there that you will be happy to have read and learned.
Actually, I read most of what she has on her website before posting--and, as I said, was not impressed. Partly, this is because her sweeping meta-economic analysis gets in the way of her insights into particular operational and financial intersections.

Moreover, some of her insights into insurgent finances are simply wrong--for example, her throw-away statements on Fateh's diversion of funds in the Arafat era are incorrect, and show no knowledge of the vast amount of OS material on the mechanics, destinations, and purposes of revenue diversions (including a very large IMF report and several available forensic audits). In the same piece she quotes Arafat on Hamas (a completely unreliable source), and in so doing contributes to a grand tradition of exaggerated accounts of Israel's role in Hamas' creation. She also dramatically overstates the magnitude and role of Hamas financing and social services in recruiting (again, an area where there is some OS data).

These might seem nitpicks, but they all point to an inclination to shoehorn data to support a grand thesis, and in so doing distorting the former.