Defining, Securing and Building a Just Peace : The EU and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
Author
Summary, in English
Just peace has been much talked about in everyday life, but it is less well researched by academics. The puzzle underlying this dissertation is therefore to probe what constitutes a just peace, both conceptually within the field of peacebuilding and empirically in the context of the EU as a peacebuilder in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The EU has used the term just peace in many of its most important declarations on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict throughout the years. Defining a just peace is about these declaratory efforts by the EU to articulate a common formula of a just peace in the conflict. Securing and building a just peace are about the EU’s role in implementing this formula for a just peace in the conflict through the creation of a Palestinian state.
As the EU enters its fifth decade of involvement in the conflict, there can be little doubt that in common with the rest of the international community it has failed in its efforts to establish a just peace between Israelis and Palestinians. While this is an inescapable overall conclusion from four decades of EC/EU peacebuilding in the conflict, it is, at the same time, possible to draw a number of other conclusions from this study. Most importantly, it will be argued that the EU is a major legitimizing power in the conflict and that it has kept the prospects of a two-state solution alive through its support for the Palestinian statebuilding process.
The EU has used the term just peace in many of its most important declarations on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict throughout the years. Defining a just peace is about these declaratory efforts by the EU to articulate a common formula of a just peace in the conflict. Securing and building a just peace are about the EU’s role in implementing this formula for a just peace in the conflict through the creation of a Palestinian state.
As the EU enters its fifth decade of involvement in the conflict, there can be little doubt that in common with the rest of the international community it has failed in its efforts to establish a just peace between Israelis and Palestinians. While this is an inescapable overall conclusion from four decades of EC/EU peacebuilding in the conflict, it is, at the same time, possible to draw a number of other conclusions from this study. Most importantly, it will be argued that the EU is a major legitimizing power in the conflict and that it has kept the prospects of a two-state solution alive through its support for the Palestinian statebuilding process.
Publishing year
2013
Language
English
Publication/Series
Lund Political Studies
Issue
170
Full text
Document type
Dissertation
Publisher
Lund University
Topic
- Political Science
Keywords
- Isareli-Palestinian conflict
- peace
- EU
- peace building
- Just peace
- Middle East peace process
- Legitimizing power Europe
Status
Published
Project
- Just and Durable Peace by Piece
Research group
- Freds- och konfliktforskning
- Middle East politics
Supervisor
ISBN/ISSN/Other
- ISSN: 0460-0037
- ISBN: 978-91-7473-574-1
Defence date
31 May 2013
Defence time
10:15
Defence place
Stora Hörsalen, Ingvar Kamprad Design Centrum, Lund
Opponent
- Patrick Müller (Dr)