Creating ‘Partners for Peace’: The Palestinian Authority and the International Statebuilding Agenda

The Palestinian Authority (PA) offers an interesting case study of statebuilding in a conflict-country context. Created as an interim administration in the West Bank and Gaza in 1994, the PA has been hampered by the statebuilding framework enshrined in the Oslo Accords, its lack of sovereignty, the lack of final status negotiations, and the ‘partners for peace’ paradigm which is an attempt by donors and international organisations to support who they regard as the ‘right’ type of elite—that is, those willing to ‘make peace’ with Israel (as defined by Israel). This article explores the impacts of this paradigm and argues that it has paralysed the formal political process in Palestine and has securitised democracy.