The strategy of state-building aims at stabilizing societies after wars and civil wars by establishing governmental institutions based on the model of Western democracies. Since the early 1990s, such a strategy has been endorsed in the Palestinian territories, with the USA and the EU leading the way. Western donor countries regard state-building as part of a peace strategy that is intended to ultimately lead to a two-state solution. Simultaneously, an independent Palestinian state constitutes the primary goal of the most important political forces in the Palestinian territories.
Against this backdrop, Claudia Baumgart-Ochse analyzes the actual state of state building in Palestine in the four core areas security, finances, legitimacy and rule of law in HSFK-Report 10/2013 "Ist mit Palästina ein Staat zu machen?".
She concludes with a mixed assessment: Admittedly, the efficiency and transparency of institutions and procedures have been successfully improved and stabilized. However, all analyzed dimensions reveal a lack of the fundamental preconditions of a state: the effective governmental power over a population in a continuous territory. These cannot be created only by means of financial resources, know-how and technical support by donor countries, but only when the still unsolved political problems are tackled.
This HSFK-Report is available at PRIF for 6€ or can be downloaded for free.