Privatizing The Peace Process
Like many things in life, the answer is money.
Not throwing government funding at social welfare programs which, even in the U.S., has proven to be short-lived and largely ineffective. But rather creating an economic environment where individuals can prosper by themselves, having the infrastructure and financial incentives to create, build and be rewarded. It’s called capitalism.
The Milken Institute (via WSJ) reports: “An economic road map defined by common Palestinian-Israeli interests could, as a practical matter, make a bigger difference than another roll of the political dice.”
“An effort by the Bush administration to engage the private sector in shaping regional economic development could help avoid many of the limits and failures of past negotiations. The private sector can provide the timeliest impact in creating economic growth and durable jobs — two vital components of a permanent peace. With outside support, the Palestinian Authority and local Palestinian community could already begin necessary public and private partnership investments to start building their state.
. . .
To avoid similar mistakes in the future, economic preconditions for coexistence must be created. Development of an economic infrastructure for a Palestinian state must precede any final political status agreements. This is both possible and necessary for an ultimate peace between Palestinians and Israelis. By creating such an infrastructure and delivering private investment and job creation now, we have the opportunity to transform a constituency for violence into a constituency for growth and economic viability.”
Once Palestinians and Israels own buildings and businesses together, they might be less interested in bombing them. Just a thought.