Palestine in EU and Russian Foreign Policy : Statehood and the Peace Process

This book uses the school of constructivism to provide a new understanding of EU and Russian foreign policy, and the countries’ failure to speed up the process of establishing a Palestinian state, despite its designation as a priority in their involvement in the Middle East peace process. Palestinian statehood provides a telling example of how identity and Self-Other perception inform foreign policy-making by global actors. The book explains why the EU and Russia are so eager to be involved in any step towards a peace settlement, as well as showing to what extent the Self-perception of global actorness maintains and boosts EU and Russian influence in the region.

The establishment of a Palestinian state has long been a strategic objective of EU and Russian foreign policy in the Middle East. However, over a decade after the creation of the road-map, the establishment of an independent Palestinian state has still not been achieved.

uses the school of constructivism to provide a new understanding of EU and Russian foreign policy. It explores the failure of these global actors to speed up the process of establishing a Palestinian state, despite this being a strategic objective and top priority of their involvement in the Middle East peace process. The book then analyses the role of identity and self-other perception in the making of EU and Russian foreign policy towards the Middle East peace process. It is argued that Palestinian statehood provides a telling empirical example of how, and to what extent, the search for global actorness, as a matter of international identity, informs foreign policy-making by global actors. The book then proceeds to discuss why the EU and Russia are so eager to be involved in initiating a peace settlement.

Offering a new understanding of foreign policy-making by global players in Middle Eastern politics, this book will appeal to students, scholars and policymakers working in International Relations and European, Russian and Middle Eastern studies.