Recognizing a Palestinian State and the Risk of West Bank “Frontierization”

By James Ron

On October 7, 2025, the UK-based journal, E-International Relations, published my essay, International Recognition of Palestine and the Risk of a West Bank 'Frontier."

Recognition of a Palestinian State Without Protection

Recognition of a Palestinian state without a robust international security presence would be dangerous

The piece examines how recent diplomatic recognition of a Palestinian state by more than 150 countries—including Australia, Belgium, France, Portugal, and the United Kingdom—could, under certain geopolitical conditions, unintentionally heighten the risk of large-scale political violence in the West Bank.

Drawing on my comparative research in Frontiers and Ghettos: State Violence in Serbia and Israel (University of California Press, 2003), I argue that when states relinquish uncontested control over adjacent territories without robust international peacekeeping, those areas can become lawless “frontiers.”

In such zones, formal legal responsibility fades, and the moral and bureaucratic restraints that normally limit violence begin to erode.

Lessons from History

This pattern was visible in the 1990s Balkans, where Serbian forces treated Bosnia differently from legally incorporated Serbian territory, and in Gaza after Israel’s 2005 withdrawal.

In each case, distance from legal accountability encouraged unrestrained force.

The comparison suggests that a future, prematurely detached West Bank could face similar dangers if international protection is absent.

A Warning

The lesson is clear:

Recognition without protection can turn liberation into catastrophe.

If the West Bank gains statehood without credible international peacekeeping and oversight, it could devolve into a frontier zone rather than a secure sovereign entity.

Further Reading

You can read the full essay on E-International Relations here.

For the broader theoretical framework, see my book, Frontiers and Ghettos, and my scholarly article in Theory and Society, Boundaries and Violence: Repertoires of State Action Along the Bosnia/Yugoslavia Divide.

You can also check out my book, Taking Root: Human Rights and Public Opinion in the Global South (Oxford University Press).

Additional research: Research Gate | Academia.edu | Jamesron.org