From Payer to Player in the Middle East
The European Union has contributed billions of euros in aid to the Palsestinians, but has little to show for it in terms of enhancing peace, stability, and its own influence. Where Europe can really make a difference is in framing a Balkan-style stability pact that addresses people’s existential concerns: land ownership, water rights, and demography.
The European Union’s policy in the Middle East is the litmus test of its common foreign and security policy. Many Europeans share this belief, but, as the EU considers entering the fray of Middle East peace talks, it must respond to former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s jibe that in the region “you are payers, not players.”