Tyler Cowen has evidently been traveling in the Middle East. E.g., My favorite things Israel. Two days later Tyler posted a provocative piece on the UAE-style multi-city-state solution proposed by Dr. Mordechai Kedar of Bar-Ilan University:
From Barry Shaw:, this is also known as the ‘eight-state solution’:
(…) He visualizes eight emirate-type city states with designated borders that will incorporate the Arabs within them. The rest of the land can be populated by the inhabitants, whether they be Jews or Arabs, living and behaving with respect and deference to the inhabitants of the various city-states. The states shall be granted sovereignty. They shall be granted surrounding land for expansion and development. Road systems in vacant lands shall be developed for transport of people and commerce, both Jewish and Arab.
If Palestinians could ‘vote with their feet’ across these various Emirates, it would be interesting to see what kind of policies would evolve, relative to what is produced by currently existing forms of political participation.
Here is a web site devoted to the concept, with one more detailed account here. I should add that there are versions of this idea which do not add all of the ‘baggage’ found on this web site.
In presenting this material, I am not seeking to have MR commentators reprise all of the usual debates on the broader topic of Middle East peace or lack thereof. Nonetheless I had never heard this idea before, and so I am passing it along.
I’m intrigued with the Emirates concept. The multi-part Barry Shaw series is a good place to start
(…) Clearly, the decades-old search for an impossible two-state solution has eluded us. Seemingly intelligent and influence people still beat on about it being the only game in town. I have advise for them. Start to think out of the box. Open your minds and horizons to other solutions. Give alternatives the opportunity to succeed or fail, even as you stubbornly cling to your impossible dream.Israel has accepted that large parts of Judea and Samaria are occupied by large numbers of Arabs with an antipathy to Israel. Neither does Israel, the democratic Jewish state, desire to integrate millions of antagonistic Arabs into an Israeli society, thereby potentially tipping the demographic scales against a Jewish majority.This was the reasoning behind the two-state notion which, despite decades of the best efforts of the international community, has failed.All that has been achieved is a Palestinian split between two sections of their society, neither of which recognizes the Jewish State of Israel, and a fading minority-backed leader defying logic with a contentious move at the UN that is bound to kill the only apparent solution on the horizon.Why would political and social scientists and other “experts” want to pour money into a situation that their basic instincts tell them is doomed to failure? But they do.Why do politicians and think-tank experts vacuously point the finger at Israel, rather than examine the pathetic and dysfunctional artificially created “Palestinian” society that is torn asunder by internal bickering and back-stabbing (literally). Their violent political divide is teetering on collapse and chaos, propped up by massive financial injections, mainly provided by the West and even Israel, with Arab regimes promising assistance but defaulting on their commitments.So who says the two-state solution need be the only solution that prevents a one-state no starter? More and more people believe the two-state collapse will not be a disaster and that the dark vacuum may enable alternatives to emerge into the light of day for consideration and application.Gradually, opinion-makers are coming to the conclusion that the two-state solution is dead.
And I recommend Dr. Kedar’s PalestinianEmirates.com.
The economic incentives to the locals who would be residents of each emirate – those are compelling. The Hamas and Fatah politicians who feed off the conflict will of course try everything to prevent any progress. But eventually the interests of ordinary families might prevail.
What is not yet clear to me is why the Arab regimes (who profit politically from keeping the conflict on the front pages) would want to back the Emirates proposal? It might bring peace and left the hated Israel still standing. Where is the incentive for Egypt or Syria?
