A comparison of political landscapes : from the Oslo Accords to the ‘deal of the century’.

Abstract

This dissertation aims to make a link between a historical point in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict to a more contemporary point. By making the link between the failure of Oslo Accords, and what will be the failure of the ‘deal of the century’, patterns are made, and lessons for the future can be speculated. Before delving into the main question of the research, the study gave a brief historical overview of how the conflict has reached the stage it has today, through examining five critical junctures which have reshaped the dispute one way or another. This is all in the aim of assessing what the future of a ‘Palestinian state’ looks like, and where the conflict is being geared. To make the comparison, the research provided literature on peace negotiations theory, and pinpointed three stages of a peace process: pre-negotiations, around-the-table negotiations, and post-negotiations. In the second phase of the process, eight different components were presented to examine the extent of success or failure that the process produces. This framework was applied to all stages of the Oslo Accords, and this case study proves to be an utter failure at all stages, as this research demonstrates. After discussing how the Oslo Accords failed the way it has, the study addresses the second part of the comparison. Yet, before doing so, a major constituent to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict in general, and to this comparison in specific was addressed; the American-Israeli alliance, and the uninterrupted American support to Israel over the years. This alliance is eventually what led to the second part of the comparison which is where this research examines the Trump administration, and his ‘deal of the century’ through using the same components applied to the Oslo Accords. The research is conducted through a historical analysis discourse in order to identify the patterns of failure, which act as an obstacle to any peace between the Palestinians and the Israelis. The research ends by asserting