Paradigm Lost: From Two-State Solution to One-State Reality by Ian Lustick

Session Submission Type: Author meet critics

Session Description

In Paradigm Lost, Ian Lustick challenges the conventional wisdom for Israeli - Palestinian conflict resolution, namely the two-state solution (TSS). He argues that although possible in the past, territorial partition is no longer feasible under the conditions that have emerged and, therefore, it will be more productive to recognize the one-state reality (ORS) that has materialized. This outcome was not achieved by design, but rather as the unintended consequences of Zionism’s Iron Wall strategy, the impact of the Holocaust on the collective Israeli psyche, and the influence of the pro-Israel lobby on US foreign policy. In light of this reality, there is no viable solution currently in sight. Therefore, Lustick recommends focusing on opportunities for social and political realignments within the single polity that rules the entire territory. This will require various groups and subgroups to redefine their interests and form new alliances that cut across ethnonational boundaries in pursuit of democratization and equality. Thus, instead of a negotiated blue-print to a defined end, be it a one-state or two-state solution, Lustick provides a process-oriented approach that focuses on politics and mobilization around immediate issues.
The book raises important questions for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, specifically, and conflict processes more generally. Important theoretical, comparative, and case-specific questions include: Under what condition is territorial partition a feasible solution? Where has it worked or failed and why? Under what conditions is the social-realignment approach proposed by Lustick feasible for Israel/Palestine (and other deeply divided societies)? If instead of a devised blueprint for negotiations, politics should be allowed to play out, why should we expect cross-cutting alliances to overpower ethnonational commitments? And if they do override parochial commitments, what kind of opportunities might we imagine?

Sub Unit

• Related Groups / Association for Israel Studies

Chair

• Oded Haklai Queen's University

Presenters

• Oded Haklai Queen's University

• Ronnie May Olesker St. Lawrence University

• Nadav G. Shelef University of Wisconsin, Madison

• Ehud Eiran University of Haifa

• Mira M. Sucharov Carleton University

• Ian S. Lustick University of Pennsylvania