Palestine Ltd.: Neoliberalism and Nationalism in the Occupied Territory (SOAS Palestine Studies)

"Since the 1993 Oslo Accords, the Occupied Palestinian Territory has been the subject of extensive international peacebuilding and statebuilding efforts coordinated by Western donor states and international finance institutions. Despite their failure to yield peace or Palestinian statehood, the role of these organisations in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is generally overlooked owing to their depiction as tertiary actors engaged in technical missions. In Palestine Ltd., Toufic Haddad explores how neoliberal frameworks have shaped and informed the common understandings of international, Israeli and Palestinian interactions throughout the Oslo peace process. Drawing upon more than 20 years of policy literature, field-based interviews and recently declassified or leaked documents, he details how these frameworks have led to struggles over influencing Palestinian political and economic behaviour, and attempts to mould the class character of Palestinian society and its leadership. A dystopian vision of Palestine emerges as the by-product of this complex asymmetrical interaction, where nationalism, neo-colonialism and 'disaster capitalism' both intersect and diverge. This book is essential for students and scholars interested in Middle East Studies, Arab-Israeli politics and international development."--Bloomsbury Publishing. Neoliberalism and Nationalism in the Occupied Territories. Since the 1993 Oslo Accords, the Occupied Palestinian Territory has been the subject of extensive international peacebuilding and statebuilding efforts coordinated by Western donor states and international finance institutions. Despite their failure to yield peace or Palestinian statehood, the role of these organisations in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is generally overlooked owing to their depiction as tertiary actors engaged in technical missions. In Palestine Ltd., Toufic Haddad explores how neoliberal frameworks have shaped and informed the common understandings of international, Israeli and Palestinian interactions throughout the Oslo peace process. Drawing upon more than 20 years of policy literature, field-based interviews and recently declassified or leaked documents, he details how these frameworks have led to struggles over influencing Palestinian political and economic behaviour, and attempts to mould the class character of Palestinian society and its leadership. A dystopian vision of Palestine emerges as the by-product of this complex asymmetrical interaction, where nationalism, neo-colonialism and d̀isaster capitalism' both intersect and diverge. This book is essential for students and scholars interested in Middle East Studies, Arab-Israeli politics and international development Cover Author Bio Title Copyright Contents List of Illustrations Series Foreword Acknowledgements Introduction Part I: Background 1. Neoliberal Approaches to Conflict Resolution and Statebuilding 2. Getting to ‘Peace’: Survey of Historical, Political and Economic Factors Leading to the Oslo Peace Process Part II: Peacebuilding? 1993–2000 3. Modeling a Resolution 4. The Voyage: Neoliberal Peacebuilding in Practice 1993–2000 5. The Enforcer: Structural Determinants of Palestinian Political Economy: The Israeli Contribution 6. The Guesstimate: Structural Determinants of Palestinian Political Economy: International Aid Contributions 7. Palestinian Political Actors Negotiate Neoliberal Peacebuilding 8. Rents, Rent-Seeking and the Political Settlement of the Oslo Years Part III: Statebuilding? 9. Reform and Statebuilding 10. ‘Fayyadism’ 11. Incentivizing De-Development Conclusion Appendix 1 Appendix 2 Notes Bibliography Index Back cover