The Role of United Arab Emirates in Palestinian Development
Foreign Policy Change and Potential for Pragmatic Engagement
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.12797/Politeja.22.2025.100.15Keywords:
development cooperation, Israeli-Palestinian conflict, regional integration, state- and nation-building, United Arab EmiratesAbstract
Drawing upon the foreign policy change theoretical framework, the article discusses potentialities for the United Arab Emirates pragmatic involvement in the (re)construction of the Gaza Strip after the war initiated in October 2023 by Hamas, and more broadly, in possible future Palestinian state- and nationbuilding. It analyses relevant Emirati internal reforms, foreign policy evolution, history of relations with the Palestinians, including regional context and development aid, as well as Emirati war-time agency. The findings relate the change of Emirati foreign policy to the renewal of its leadership and regional developments, yet without a redefinition of its fundamental goals. Said change involves a regionalisation effort meant at promoting stability, cooperation and peace within the nation-states’ based system, including the two-state solution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
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