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JOURNAL OF PALESTINE STUDIES
systematically considered the full "package" that will accompany state-hood, let alone drawn up a coherent strategy in response.Yet to maximize their capabilities and preempt (or ameliorate) theoutcome, it is essential that the Palestinians anticipate what the sub-stance of such a package might actually be, and then structure theirdemands and strategies accordingly. In other words, the Palestiniansmust examine carefully what sovereignty means, not only in the inter-dependent modern world into which they will, willy-nilly, be integrated,but also in the specific context of the contractual arrangements withboth Israel and Jordan that will inevitably accompany Palestinian state-hood and that will impinge heavily on major aspects of Palestinian life.
Conceptualizing the Problem
Three principal problems threaten meaningful Palestinian statehood.First is a severely reduced territory that may also be fragmented intononcontiguous pockets. Second is the possibility of residual intermesh-ing of Israeli (settler) and Palestinian population concentrations, rais-ing the prospect of mixed or overlapping jurisdictions, with attendantadministrative, security, and political complications. Third are the limi-tations on the return of Palestinian refugees and the ceding of East Jeru-salem to Palestinian sovereignty, without which the new state will losemuch of its national identity and political legitimacy.In each of these cases the question is: Can the Palestinians live withstatehood as it is likely to be structured, and how might they do so?Will this require a fundamental redefinition of the meaning of sover-eignty in the Palestinian context, and can this be done without simplytranslating sovereignty into nonexistence?
A
useful way of approaching the question is to think in terms of se-curity. Security has two distinct meanings in this context. In the narrowsense it means military defense against direct, physical threats to thepopulation, vital economic installations or resources, and agencies ofthe state. In the second, broader sense it means the ability to protect"national values," identified broadly as safeguarding the political andterritorial integrity of the state, ensuring the physical well-being andsurvival of the population, promoting economic welfare, and preservingsocial harmony.'Defined in this way, security depends on the attainment and subse-quent maintenance of "stateness." This may be measured in terms ofmaterial capabilities (military and economic, but also organizationallinstitutional), political legitimacy, autonomy (with regard to domesticand external forces), and the functional differentiation and coordina-tion of state agen~ies.~he specific sources of each element and theoverall balance between them vary from state to state. So does thestate's capacity to regulate domestic life, extract and appropriate re-
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