Balancing, Bonding, and Balking: The European Union, the United States, and the Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process

The increasing resources, albeit largely financial, that the European Union has committed to the Israeli-Palestinian relationship has led to increasing calls for the EU to take a greater political role in the peace process. In this essay the potential role of the EU in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is examined in relation to that of the United States. For the EU to play a more influential role in the peace process, neither a pure balancing nor a pure bonding strategy is likely to work. Instead, the most promising strategy for the EU would be a bonding strategy combined with a threat to balk, to simply withhold support from US initiatives if Europe's views are not taken into account.