In his article “Palestine Goes to the UN,” Khaled Elgindy draws up a set of cause-consequence scenarios for Palestine’s latest attempt at creating a state. The UN bid, which “marks a dramatic shift in the Palestinians’ approach to the conflict with Israel,” is set to be brought to the table in the UN General Assembly in September of 2011 (since that date has already passed, it will be assumed that we are still in the period prior to it for the purposes of the paper). Following Elgindy’s logic, the arguments of other authors, and the assumptions of the theories on international relations, I will demonstrate how the UN option will most likely fail, but without discounting the positive effect a ‘failure’ can have on the negotiation process.
Elgindy’s main argument is that Palestine’s new strategy of calling on the UN for statehood is, in the long run, the more effective of the two possible policies, the other being, of course, direct negotiations between Israel and Palestine, which have “failed to realize Palestinian national aspirations and have helped prolong and deepen Israel’s occupation while weakening Palestine’s political institutions.” The theory behind his claim is a cost-benefit analysis of the appeal to the UN; whether it goes through (unlikely) or fails, there is something to be gained from it.
The best – and again, most improbable – scenario for the Palestinian people is the official recognition of the state of Palestine by the 1967 borders. The most important effect of recognition is that Israel would be violating international law by having its forces in another state, and would be ‘legally’ obligated to withdraw. The term ‘legally’ is loosely used here because of the debate over the existence of anarchy at th...
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Elgindy, Khaled. “Palestine Goes to the UN.” Foreign Affairs 90.5 (2011): 102-113. Academic Research Premier. Web. 13 Nov. 2011.
Khalidi, Rashid. The Iron Cage: The Story of the Palestinian Struggle for Statehood. Boston: Beacon Press, 2006. Print.
Newman, Edward, Roland Paris, and Oliver P. Richmond. New Perspectives on Liberal Peacebuilding. New York: United Nation University Press, 2009. Print.
Pease, Kelly-Kate S. International Organizations: Perspectives on Governance in the Twenty-First Century. New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2008. Print.
Rosen, Steven J. “Abbas vs. Obama.” Middle East Forum 18.2 (2011): 53-58. Academic Research Premier. Web. 13 Nov. 2011.
Scheuerman, William E. Hans Morgenthau: Realism and Beyond. Cambridge: Polity Press, 2009. Print.
Ben-Gurion, David. “Status-Quo Agreement.” In Israel in the Middle East: Second Edition, edited by Itamar Rabinovich and Jehude Reinharz, 58-59. Waltham: Brandeis University Press, 2008.
This marked the beginning of the Palestine armed conflict, one of its kinds to be witnessed in centuries since the fall of the Ottoman Empire and World War 1. Characterized by a chronology of endless confrontations, this conflict has since affected not only the Middle East relations, but also the gl...
Given current conditions, a fully independent Palestinian State would threaten peace in the region, despite the fact that the Palestinians were the original inhabitants within recent history, and therefore theoretically have the right to the Palestinian area. This is not, however, an excuse to resume Israel’s current treatment of Palestinians. At minimum, Palestinians deserve full access to non-settlement areas of the west bank regardless of Israel’s desire to control and restrict access to roads connecting settlements, reasonably open access to East and/or West Jerusalem, and the same rights as an Israeli citizen within the legal system. To continue forcing poor conditions on Palestinians will only amplify resistance, and consequently, violent
Valaskakis, K. (1998). The challenge of strategic governance: Can globalization be managed? Optimum, vol. 28, no. 2, pp. 26-40.
Bourke, Dale Hanson. The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Tough Questions, Direct Answers. Downers Grove, IL: Inter Varsity, 2013. N. pag. Print.
First starting with the mutual recognition as political entities and through the interim period build trust and inter reliance needed for administrative and security arrangements. The hope was that through this process Israel and Palestine could build the momentum to tackle the more sensitive issues, referred to as “final status issues.” Among these difficult and complex issues were the borders and status of a Palestinian State, the claims and repatriation of Palestinian refugees, the fate of the Jewish settlements, and the disposition of East Jerusalem. While it may seem counter intuitive the Oslo Peace Accords did not actually address any of these issues. This was due to its purpose as a way to build the political framework that would allow for later negotiations and not as a permeant peace solution for the region.
The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) is a complex movement, which stumbles from one setback to another. The PLO was riven with factionalism; it pursued revolution and diplomacy as if there were no contradiction between the terms. Then, at the moment of winning recognition from Israel, it seemed poised to lose its most precious asset - the support of the Palestinian people, whom it sought to serve. Barry Rubin wrote a history of the PLO in which he investigates and interprets its political circumstances, strategies, and doctrines from their inception in the late 1950s to the events of 1993 culminating in the Rabin-Arafat handshake on the White House lawn. His book aims to offer a general account of the organization’s history and politics. The task of illustrating the incompetence and corruption of the PLO and its leaders is not difficult, and Rubin seemed to have pursued this task with enthusiasm.
Andersen, Roy, Robert F. Seibert, and Jon G. Wagner. Politics and change in the Middle East: sources of conflict and accommodation. 9th ed. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1982. Print.
Since 1967, numerous illegal Israeli settlements have been built on Palestinian land and the occupied territory, “housing more then 400,000 Jewish settlers.” Even since 1967, there has been a lot of divergence, unrest, bereavement, war and obliteration on both sides. There was a war in 1973 and two intifadas Palestinian uprising one that began in 1987 and one that began in 2000 that brings us into the 21st century. There have been many attempts in resolving conflicts however; the conflict is a matter of whether the Palestinians should be permitted to form their own independent country and government in an area that was once theirs yet now occupied and currently the nation of Israel. The Arab- Israeli conflict is historically a fuse that ignites regional battle due to the occupation of Palestine.
Continetti, Matthew. “Hamas’s Useful Idiots.” Commentary 138.2 (2014): 80-79. Academic Search Complete. Web. 29 July 2016.
Bob Hawke once said; “Unless and until something concrete is done about addressing the Israeli-Palestinian issue you won't get a real start on the war against terrorism.” Perhaps Hawke put into a few simple words one of the most complicated issues within our world today, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. As Israel continues to strip the Palestinians of their land and fears it’s very existence because of the Palestinians terrorist acts, there seems to be no solution in sight. The world appears to be split and all over the place when it comes to this matter. According to The Middle East Institute for Understanding approximately 129 countries recognize Palestine as a state while many others do not. Over all the political matters within this issue not only affect Palestine and Israel but the world as a whole, as the Middle East and the West seem to disagree. This has had and will continue to have an enormous impact on many political affairs all over the world particularly in the current fight against terrorism. Personally I feel that the Israeli Palestinian conflict while being a very complicated matter has a simple solution. Within this issue I am a firm believer that the occupation of the West Bank by Israeli forces is extremely unjust and must come to an end. Once this is achieved a two state solution will be the most effective way to bring peace to the area. The occupation of the West Bank violates political and legal rights, human rights, and illegally forces Palestinians who have lived in the area for hundreds of years from their land. This conflict is at the height of its importance and a solution is of dire need as nuclear issues arise in the Middle East due to the tension between Israel and it’s surrounding neighbors, and the...
Gerner, Deborah J., and Philip A. Schrodt. "Middle Eastern Politics." Understanding the contemporary Middle East. 3rd ed. Boulder, Colo.: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2008. 85 -136. Print.
...nd Politics." Encyclopedia of the Modern Middle East and North Africa. Ed. Philip Mattar. 2nd ed. Vol. 2. New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 2004. 890-895. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 24 Jan. 2012.
An International Organization can be defined, following the International Law Commission, as an “organization established by a treaty or other instrument governed by international law and possessing its own international legal personality”. International organizations generally have States as members, but often other entities can also apply for membership. They both make international law and are governed by it. Yet, the decision-making process of international organizations is often “less a question of law than one of political judgment” . International Organizations may serve various purposes; they could be economically, commercially or politically oriented. However, since I am looking at the realm of International Relations, I am going to focus on politically oriented International Organizations. In the following sections, I have detailed the structure, function and the concept of legitimacy of one of the largest and most successful International Organizations, the United
Globalization has led to several substantial changes in global governance and the entities participating in governance activities. First, over the past 70 years, an increasing number of nations have signed onto international agreements. For example, when the Global Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) was created in 1947, it had no institutional structure; by 2009, though, more than 150 nations – accounting for 97% of world trade – were members of GATT’s successor, the World Trade Organization (Fidler, 2009). The World Health Organization, started in 1946, now comprises 194 member states and has nearly 150 country offices (Council on Foreign Relations, 2012). In both of these entities – and in others, such as the Genera...