11. Principled or Stubborn? Western Policy toward Hamas
- Author:
- Nathan J. Brown
- Publication Date:
- 12-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- The International Spectator
- Institution:
- Istituto Affari Internazionali
- Abstract:
- American and European policies toward Hamas have been based largely on the movement's reputation as terrorist, a threat to the peace process and emblematic of the dangers contained in democratic reform. While some debate has occurred in policy circles, US policy remains extremely strict. This has had effects, many of which are negative (undermining Palestinian institutions), while it has not produced a softening of Hamas' position. In recent years, some European states have shown discomfort with the harshness of this policy and the political chaos it threatens to unleash. An alternative policy toward Hamas, more conditional and nuanced, would not necessarily have produced better results over the short term, although it could have produced longer term changes and avoided some of the costs of the draconian path followed.
- Political Geography:
- America, Europe, and Palestine