Monday, February 1, 2010

The Role of the United States of America in the Democratic transformation process in Palestine (George Bush's Term of Office 2001-2006)

The Role of the United States of America in the Democratic transformation process in Palestine (George Bush's Term of Office 2001-2006) PDF

Qusai A. Hamed

Supervisor(s)
Dr. Ra'ed Nu'airat -
Discussion Commity

243 صفحة
Abstract :

Abstract

This study investigated a subject that has been increasingly talked about since 2001 in terms of its dimensions, justifications and timing. This subject marks a new stage or a turning point in the history of the Palestinian Authority (PA). The researcher tackled the role of the USA in effecting a democratic change in Palestine against the backdrop of the American foreign policy's interest in reformation in the wake of the 11 September 2001 events. Since then, the American political discourse has mainly focused on fighting «terrorism» and proliferation of democracy in the Middle East.

The issue of PA's reformation gained momentum and was raised at a time when the American policy was moving towards new changes in its attitude towards the Middle East. It has begun to set up new strategies to protect its interests and tighten its control and influence in the whole region. At the same time, the Israeli-Palestinian issue has experienced a state of rupture in the wake of the failure of settlement efforts and restoration of calm between the two sides. Against this backdrop, the American-Palestinians relations have gradually been affected. These relations have witnessed a state of deterioration, thus forcing the American administration to draw up a new policy towards the PA. This is partly attributed to the Palestinian leadership political behavior which sent messages about the difficulty of raising the ceiling of the Palestinian demands to match Israel's reservations concerning its security. All these combined have necessitated a reevaluation of the role the Palestinian leadership has played in the whole peace process and how it has contributed to the impediment of a settlement agreement.

Against this background, the researcher's first hypothesis is that the US's need to reach a Palestinian-Israeli agreement, which serves its strategic interests and goals in the Middle East and its aspiration to protect Israeli security, has become a motivation as well as an argument to ask the PA to introduce political reformations and transformation toward democratization of governance. The researcher's second hypothesis is that serving these interests and the nature of the Israeli-American relations and the issue of settlement are the major determinants for the US's acceptance of democratic change in the PA.

To test these two hypotheses, the researcher used the historical method to trace the development of the Israeli-American relations and how the Palestinian cause has begun to crystallize in the American politician's mind set and how this cause is receiving a burgeoning importance from the American foreign policy makers. In addition, the researcher used the analytical method to investigate the role of the American foreign policy in effecting a democratic change in Palestine. To this end, the researcher analyzed the goals and strategies which the American foreign policy has set up and employed in dealing with the Palestinian political system between 2001-2006 (the time determinants of the study). The researcher also dwelt on the American political trends towards the Palestinian political system after the presidential and legislative elections. In this respect, the researcher analyzed the most salient of these trends and the degree of agreement with the hypotheses.

This study was divided into four chapters. Chapter one was devoted to the structure of the study, its objectives, problem and methodology. In addition, the researcher provided a survey of previous literature on the various aspects of the study. Chapter two provided a historical framework for the study and was divided into two sections. Section one traced the development of the USA's relationship with the Palestinian cause and how its interest in fostering its relations with Israel started and increased after taking a decision to play influential roles in the international policy after the Second World War. The researcher has concluded that the American policy has always been employed to the investment of Israel's military, economic and scientific superiority as a strategic source in the region. Its positions towards the Palestinian cause have been in full harmony with the requirements for Israel's superiority. This has led her to work to break up some Arab countries' alliance with the ex-Soviet Union and include them in the American alliances. Therefore, the American move to settle the conflict has been motivated by its desire to achieve a settlement which allows Israel to enjoy stability on the security level and neutralize the Arab countries' threats to it, and to give the latter an opportunity to integrate in the Middle East through economic cooperation and pave the way for more integration in the region.

In the second section of chapter two, the researcher explained the political and ideological changes which affected the Palestinian political trends particularly concerning the attitude towards the Palestinian state and the strategies for its realization. The researcher has found a sharp decline in the Palestinian attitude towards the nature of this would- be- state in comparison with the foundations of the PLO's and Hamas's covenants. This perception puts aside all ideas on which these covenants have been built. These covenants once included the talk about a state from the River Jordan to the Mediterranean Sea (the Palestinian homeland). There has also been a change in the strategies to achieve this state. It has become crystal clear in the current discourse from the talk about the idea of armed struggle as the method to full liberation to a talk about the possibility of a political settlement (according to the PLO) and its acceptance as an option (by Hamas) at a time when the latter was categorically against it. This is in addition to Hamas's readiness for a long-term hudna (truce) with Israel. The researcher attributed this retraction in Palestinian political attitudes to the absence of a unified Palestinian working strategy to meet the challenges and international developments. This is in addition to the Palestinians' overweighing of internal factors in facing objective circumstances. The desire of the Palestinian factions to keep themselves in the circle of influence in the Arab-Israeli conflict and to monopolize the Palestinian decision, have pushed them to adapt their policies in return for achieving an international recognition for their legitimacy.

In chapter three, the researcher tackled the changes which took place, at the international arena, after the events of Sept 11, 2001 and their repercussions on the American foreign policy towards the Middle East. The researcher, in this context, shed light on the extent of the effect of these changes on the US's concept of national security and the expansion of its perceptions towards its protection. The researcher also highlighted how this change has contributed to the kicking off of a comprehensive policy and has effected political, economic, cultural and social reformations in the Middle Eastern societies, thus allowing it to play a leading role in the international foreign policy and an intervention in internal policies and affairs of countries, as well as monitoring these countries' policies in fighting «terror» and fostering principles of freedom and democracy.

The researcher also investigated the American role in the reformation of the PA. He highlighted the political, economic and cultural strategies the American foreign policy makers employed to achieve the coveted reformations in the context of its perception of the outputs of the reformation process and what this reformation will achieve in the region. The researcher shed light on visions and perceptions which the US is expecting as outputs of the process of democratic change and how these meet its general policy towards the Middle East and the visions it has drawn up to reform it. The researcher concluded that the US has resorted to the reformation of the PA and to the change of the Palestinian political leadership due to its weakness to present serious initiatives to solve the conflict and put pressure on Israel to show more flexibility, in sensitive issues, in the settlement process. The US resort to reformation came as an attempt to change the Palestinian foundations on hard core issues in the negotiations and change their perceptions which are based on international legal resolutions. The US has wanted to introduce new perceptions which take into consideration the de facto on the ground particularly concerning the issues of refugees, Jerusalem and settlements. It was also an attempt from the US to effect changes in the Palestinian cultural environment which accordingly leads to a change in the political environment on the basis of promoting new perceptions and alternatives to solve the Palestinian cause and focus on dealing with the requirements of the solution and its potential in a realistic way taking into consideration the changes on the ground and the unrealistic implementation of the UN resolutions, return of the refugees, the Palestinian control of Jerusalem and the dismantle of settlements.

In chapter four, the researcher analyzed the American political towards of the PA after the latter's realization of some of the reformation demands. The holding of pluralistic elections was a case in point. The researcher provided an analysis of the American administration policy and its orientations in the wake of the developments which the Palestinian political life has witnessed and the link between the goals, positions and means adopted concerning the Palestinian political system. One of the results of this analysis is that the US has focused on pushing forward the resumption of the peace process and the strengthening of the moderate party in the PA, thus allowing the speeding up of the signing of an agreement which includes establishment of a temporary Palestinian state and putting on the shelf the final status issues. The US also has wanted to invest the Israeli vision based on a unilateral solution and put it in the context of Road Map achievements. This clearly proves that USA has never had a clear cut policy toward the settlement of the Palestinian question. Rather, it has always counted on investment of the Israeli steps and setting them up in the context of a two-state solution vision.

To tune up these steps with the speeding up of steps to arrive at an Israeli-Palestinian agreement, it was necessary for the US to abort any attempt that might strengthen Palestinian negotiating position, which would possibly enable Palestinian to stay firm on more sensitive issues which would in turn delay any conclusion of agreement on this track. Therefore, it has always worked to keep a state of rupture within the Palestinian camp particularly between Fateh and Hamas movements. This was crystal clear after the Mecca accord which secured a Palestinian consensus concerning the international demands. It made strenuous efforts to keep them under its pressure. The researcher believes that the American administration has benefited from Palestinians' keeping the negotiations on the shoulders of the PLO, thus preventing them from rendering any reforms in the structure and hierarchy of the PLO on Palestinian national foundations within Palestinian determinants for the framework and priorities of negotiations before participating in the negotiation process. In the final analysis, the Palestinian party has remained weak, the negotiations have continued but without allowing the Palestinian parties to play a role that may strengthen the Palestinian negotiating position.

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