ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that the United Nations (UN) has done little effectively to promote or sustain a process of democratization in failed and at-risk states. I use the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as an important point of reference. The chapter further suggests that, if the world is devoted to democratic peace theory, then there is a need for greater attention to the various ways in which the United Nations actually undermines the development of democracy. I argue that democratization itself is an unreliable process that does not always lead to the establishment of a full-blown and viable, that is, consolidated democracy. Failed, failing, and at-risk states may in fact contain political and overall cultures that are unsuitable for, or are even opposed to, democracy. The notion that democracy itself can promote international peace is a viable one as long as the peace being promoted is between and among democracies. However, the fact that at any given time there are as many as 50 or 60 wars on the planet, and that the overwhelming majority of them are within rather than between states, suggests a lack of a widespread ‘democratization’ environment. In a typical conflict, it seems highly likely that neither side is overtly committed to, or in some cases even has hopes for, the creation of democratic regimes. Instead, ethnic, tribal and religious-rival affiliations and goals tend to predominate in such conflicts. In the Palestinian areas, for example, Hamas and the Palestinian Authority are nearly as much at odds with one another as either is with Israel.
