The Urge for Democracy

William B. Quandt

From Foreign Affairs, July/August 1994

Summary:  Despite the obstacles, the unwillingness of the PLO to let go, and Western and Israeli indifference, a democratic Palestinian state is both desirable and possible.

William B. Quandt is a Senior Fellow in the Foreign Policy Studies Program at the Brookings Institution.

Israeli opposition to the idea of conditional American support for Palestinian statehood could be expected, but many Israelis would appreciate the effort to encourage democracy among their neighbors. The United States would still support Israel on security arrangements to ensure that a future Palestinian state does not become a threat. In time, many Israelis might come to support the concept of a democratic Palestinian state living at peace with Israel.

The United States recognized the PLO only after the Israelis had already done so. The American interest in encouraging Palestinian democracy, and Israel?s seeming indifference, suggest that Washington should now take the lead.

The message for Palestinians in all this could be decisive. At the moment, there is a cloud over the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations because no one is sure how final-status issues will be resolved. Palestinians are being given a long list of things they are unlikely to attain, and their power position means they will be unable to impose their preferences. If the final status of the West Bank and Gaza seems barely preferable to continued occupation, the hard-liners who argue for continued struggle will likely prevail over the PLO mainstream. The one thing most Palestinians in the occupied territories do seem to want is independence and democracy; American support on these key principles would strengthen the hand of those who best understand that they will have to compromise on the tough issues of demilitarization, Jerusalem and borders if they are to achieve their goals.

By supporting Palestinian democracy, the United States would not be ruling out Palestinian-Jordanian arrangements for confederation or federation, or even more far-reaching regional patterns of cooperation, trade and development. In fact, announcing support for Palestinian democracy now, and conditionally supporting statehood in the future, could be part of an initiative to encourage a zone of "peace, development and democracy" that could encompass Israel, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine, Egypt, Turkey and perhaps eventually Syria.

While ambitious and even visionary, these are worthy goals for American diplomacy in a region where substantial American resources can be brought to bear to influence events. By embracing Palestinian democracy, the Clinton administration would be making a major contribution to peace in the Middle East and thereby to American national interests. It would also be upholding a principle that is supposed to be central to American foreign policy, but has been notably missing from our discourse on the Middle East.