Hamas and the limits of Palestinian state-building in Gaza

This paper argues that Hamas is not an effective state-builder. This assessment is based on an examination of the organization’s state-building activities vis-à-vis the following four dimensions of state-building: a) nation-building, b) security provision, c) institutional development, and d) economic development. This project determines which areas of state-building Hamas is engaging in effectively and which ones it is not in terms of these four dimensions. The project concludes that while Hamas is engaging in effective nation-building, it is not engaging in an equally effective manner in the other three dimensions.