Securing Peace In The Middle East

Publisher Description

Middle Eastern politics of the 1990s have been characterized by a drive towards peace. Whether this is successful or not will depend on the negotiating process. These articles discuss the challenges, and provide some practical advice on how risks of failure could be avoided.

Based on the joint efforts of Israelis, Jordanians, and Palestinians, in conjunction with economists from Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, this book describes a cohesive plan for an integrated Middle East economy. It specifies actions and studies in areas where there are pressing and important issues, and where rapid progress is possible. Specifically, the plan assumes Palestinian economic sovereignty in the West Bank and Gaza. It calls for a market-driven economy and free trade among the three economies, and regional projects to further develop shared interests. Additional recommendations call for the Palestinians to take over the existing Civil Administration in the West Bank and Gaza, expansion of the financial sector, and removal of the restrictions on Palestinian employment in Israel to allow as many as 100,000 Palestinians to work there.

This volume draws together a number of research papers presented at a conference titled “Security, Insecurity and Prospects for Peace in the Middle East and North Africa”, organised by Nottingham Trent University’s Middle East and North Africa Research cluster in April 2016. The conference focused on questions pertinent to what may be termed the ‘post-Arab Spring’ era, in which the Middle East is experiencing unprecedented national and transnational challenges. Conflict, instability, radicalisation and the mass displacement of people have become increasingly salient features of the political and economic landscape of the region. The contributions here analyse a range of political, economic, security and socio-cultural issues that the authors argue lie at the heart of the instability that the region is currently experiencing. Re-thinking issues of security and insecurity in the Middle East not only allows us to explain what might have led to current instability, but also allows us to posit possible solutions to these security issues. In doing so, this book goes beyond the concepts of security and insecurity as a standard account of perpetrator versus victim, in a state-centric and violence-centric manner, to a broader and more complex understanding of the underlying processes informing security and insecurity in the region. The contributors include scholars from around the world working in a variety of different fields, including Middle Eastern studies, international relations and international political economy, providing an eclectic discussion of the state of the region.