Dr. Yosef (Yossi) Gotlieb is a geographer specializing in society-nature relations, international development and global change. He was born in Costa Rica and raised in the United States.
During service as a planner in an Israeli international development cooperation program in Nepal in 1987, Yosef observed the systematic destruction of the environment in that resource-rich country, whose population was being made poorer by expatriate concerns in the name of “modernization.” During his doctoral studies, he proposed that development be directed toward geo-ethnic regions rather than in the confines of the post-colonial state. Kurdistan was his case study.
Among Dr. Gotlieb’s writings are Self-Determination in the Middle East (NY: Praeger, 1982) and Development, Environment and Global Dysfunction (Delray Beach, FL: St Lucie Press, 1996). He currently directs text and publishing studies at David Yellin College of Education, Beit HaKerem, Jerusalem.
Yosef Gotlieb is a writer of prose and poetry and paints. He practices tai chi and is a passionate listener of classic and progressive rock and blues. He lives with his family outside of Jerusalem, having made his home in Israel since 1984. You can reach him at yossi (at) greenprophet.com.
Israel needs to move away from nationalist oil rhetoric and pursue renewable energy projects instead I was astounded to happen on the full-page advertisement on the back of the business section in the October 10, 2010 issue of Maariv….
Following a site visit conducted as part of a meeting of geographers at Ben-Gurion University last week, Dr. Gotlieb reflects on how appropriate technology, bottom-up planning and goodwill are prerequisites to resolving conflict. For an international group of geographers, a…
“Borders, Territory and Conflict in a Globalizing World” was the theme at a conference held in Israel. Experts deliberated on ethnicity, power relations and technology. Dr. Gotlieb emphasizes that such issues must be linked to the environment. The conference engaged…
Israel’s offshore oil resource are larger than previously thought, pitting the state against oil tycoons defying demands for a larger public share of oil revenues. In the context of fossil fuel-induced climate change, does the development of petroleum resources have…
Dr. Gotlieb comments on the disastrous effects of the oil spill in the US Gulf of Mexico and the dangers it portends for Israel’s emerging oil industry. In a New York Times article entitled Our Fix-It Faith and the Oil…
Dr. Gotlieb comments on the attempts by economically and politically interested parties to obscure the climate change debate. Scientists are “street fighting” the demagoguery in prestigious journals, like Nature. There is a mean spirit blowing — and its not a…
Built on the profits of oil, should Masdar hold the mantle of energy leadership for the world? Yosef asks. According to the Masdar City website, the undertaking is intended to be Abu Dhabi’s “multi-faceted response to the challenges facing a…
A real estate scandal in Jerusalem reveals Israel’s government’s dangerous stance on the privatization of land development, and use of open spaces, Yosef argues. As the Israeli press reveals one new real estate scandal after another including but not limited…
Yosef explores Paul Klugman’s environmental economics essay in the NY Times. Klugman and Gore’s words, Yosef finds, may influence decision-makers to slow the gallop toward environmental ruin in the Middle East. Above image of Klugman We greens of the Middle…
