Further Ideas: The Interspersed Nation-State System

Another promising idea of mine proposes a system of government that could be an optimal resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. This new system, called the Interspersed Nation-State System, allows governments to exist over certain people rather than over certain land. This means the state would tax and regulate its nationals, rather than tax and regulate everything that happens within certain borders (which is how the international system currently works).

By shifting the locus of sovereignty (how the state delineates its power) from land to people, two nation-states would be able to exist in a shared region. Citizens of each state would have an independent government that tailors policies and public services to its nationals and would also have free movement over 100% of the disputed land. Let me state that again--two states would exist, and citizens of both states would have freedom of movement and full access to the shared homeland.

As applied to Israel and Palestine, citizens of each state would be able to live on the same street, Israelis would pay taxes to the Israeli government and send their children to Israeli schools, Palestinians would pay taxes to the Palestinian government and send their children to Palestinian schools. Police officers would enforce the laws of their separate states, would protect their own nationals, and in cases in which a citizen of one state commits a crime against a citizen of the other state, the victim's state would extradite the offender pursuant to the extradition treaty. Infrastructure would be handled by territorial local government, meaning that citizens of both states would participate in local decision-making, but also that this would handle non-political, shared resources such as roads and sewers.

The workings of this system are better and more-thoroughly explained in the most recent issue of The Middle East Journal (visit www.mei.edu). While the idea of two governments sharing land may sound more optimistic than realistic, my research indicates that the territory-based state is an outdated concept that is not designed to address modern conditions. In fact, the history of the territorial state (created in the 1600s) and the rise of nationalism (in the 1900s) indicate that the shift in sovereignty that I am proposing is the natural progression and is already occurring to some extent.

In conclusion, the Interspersed Nation-State System resolves problems that occur when distinct nations of people occupy one shared land and, therefore, are unable to satisfactorily divide up their spheres of influence with territorial state structures.