FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 15, 2006
CONTACT: Jennifer Linker, 202/939-2372, jlinker@CarnegieEndowment.org
When new Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert visits the White House next week, he and President Bush are sure to discuss one of the major challenges in the Middle East today: dealing with a Hamas majority in the Palestinian government. An earlier American-European-Israeli consensus to avoid Hamas is unraveling without any strategy to replace it. By isolating the new Hamas government diplomatically and financially, the US and its allies have succeeded in bringing the Palestinian Authority to the brink of collapse. The West Bank and Gaza, already in a deep depression, will descend into political chaos that serves nobody’s interest. And whether we like it or not, government and opposition leaders in the region regard our reaction to Hamas as a test of our sincerity in the push for regional political reform.
Nathan Brown, a foremost expert on Palestinian politics, argues that a longer-term strategy based on support for Palestinian democracy is part of the solution to the impasse. He presents a strategy for success in his new Carnegie Policy Brief, Living with Palestinian Democracy.
To read and download online, go to: http://www.carnegieendowment.org/publications/index.cfm?fa=view&id=18331&prog=zgp&proj=zdrl,zme
Brown acknowledges the serious international complications triggered by the Hamas victory, but argues that it also presents an opportunity for meaningful political reform. Hamas was elected on a strong reform platform and the West should pressure it to live up to its promises, while helping Fatah to reform its ailing party. If the U.S. is able to tolerate a Hamas government in the short-term, it can work to establish a lasting two-party system. There will be severe challenges, but Brown argues that the West can succeed if it maintains the calm by working to continue the cease-fire; does not drive the Palestinian Authority to collapse and chaos; and respects the democratic elections while working to reform other political parties and strengthen nonpartisan institutions.
Nathan Brown is senior associate in the Democracy and Rule of Law Project at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He is an expert on Palestinian reform and Arab constitutionalism and has written extensively on the Middle East, including Brown’s most recent book, Palestinian Politics after the Oslo Accords : Resuming Arab Palestine (University of California Press, 2003), and Aftermath of the Hamas Tsunami (Policy Outlook, January 2006).
Direct link to paper: http://www.carnegieendowment.org/files/pb46_Brown_final.pdf
www.CarnegieEndowment.org/MiddleEast
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