State Formation in Palestine: Viability and Governance during a Social Transformation (Routledgecurzon Political Economy of the Middle East and North Africa)

In assessing why the Oslo agreements between Israel and the Palestinian Authority failed, questions arise as to whether the failure was due to poor governance and poor leadership on the Palestinian side, how far corruption and the weakness of democracy in the Palestinian Authority were responsible, and what were the effects of the economic and political relationships which Oslo sought to construct between Israel and the emerging Palestinian state. This book examines these key questions, and challenges the widely prevalent view that the Palestinian Authority collapsed because of its internal governance failures, its lack of commitment to democracy, and corruption. It argues that the analytical framework of 'good governance' is not appropriate for assessing state performance in developing countries, and that it is especially inappropriate in conflict and post-conflict situations. Instead, an alternative framework is proposed for assessing state performance in a context of economic and social transformation. This is then applied in detail to different aspects of state formation in Palestine, showing that the institutional architecture set up by the Oslo agreements that governed relationships between Israel and the Palestinians, especially the asymmetric control over the Palestinian state which followed from this, was responsible for many of the serious failures of governance in this first period of state formation. State formation in Palestine : achievements, constraints and prospects for the future / Mushtaq Husain Khan Evaluating the emerging Palestinian state : "good governance" versus "transformation potential" / Mushtaq Husain Khan State formation under the PNA : potential outcomes and their viability / Jamil Hilal and Mushtaq Husain Khan Israel and the Palestinian economy : integration or containment? / Adel Zagha and Husam Zomlot PNA political institutions and the future of state formation / Inge Amundsen and Basem Ezbidi Monopolies and the PNA / Mohamed M. Nasr Taxation and state formation in Palestine 1994-2000 / Odd-Helge Fjeldstad and Adel Zagha Donor assistance, rent-seeking and elite formation / Sari Hanafi and Linda Tabar. The historic significance of the Oslo Agreement signed by the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) and Israel in 1993 was that this was the first time that Israel formally recognized, even if only in part, the national aspirations of the Palestinian people. 'State Formation in Palestine' challenges the widely prevalent view that the Palestinian Authority collapsed because of internal governance failures, a lack of commitment to democracy, & corruption