UNRWA Between Autonomy and Geopolitics: An Institutional Approach to the Palestine Refugee Agency's Struggle for Survival

Abstract

This thesis explores the United Nations Relief and Works Agency in the Near East (UNRWA) institutional response to the dramatic decision by the United States of America in 2018 to eliminate all funding to the organization, and to do so, will emphasize the role that factors internal to UNRWA play with regards to the survival of the organization. It argues that UNRWA: (1) carved out a place for itself in the political arena through crafting a political rationale for its existence; (2) became self-aware of its standpoint in the multilateral system and promoted a narrative that fit this end; (3) and most importantly, utilized autonomous characteristics that are inherent to it as an international organization that operates in the complex context of the Middle East.

This research challenges the narrative that depicts UNRWA as an institution that lacks its own identity and as purely a tool of another party, whether it be Israel, Palestinians, or the US, and it tries instead to reframe the discussion around UNRWA using the organization’s own terms. As an International Organization (IO), UNRWA has been able to carve a place for itself within world politics as an autonomous actor that has managed to defy and outlive, thus far, the growing political ‘limitations’ imposed on its mandate by member states, and in particular the US. Taking this research inquiry as a starting point, this thesis explores the following main question: How does UNRWA’s autonomy contribute to its survival against the recent threats made by the United States? A sub-question that is also relevant to this thesis is: To what extent do the internal measures taken by UNRWA in response to political attacks on its existence reflect the institutional resilience of the organization? By answering these questions, this thesis aims to examine the shift in the dynamics of the UNRWA-US relationship, and hence formulate a better understanding of how UNRWA’s institutional response has allowed it to defend itself against the attacks from the Trump administration.