This chapter examines the political economy of democracy aid in Morocco in two sections. In the first, I focus on the context in which political and economic reforms began in Morocco and describe the foundation of authoritarian power in the country. The second section discusses the context in which US democracy aid began in the country. US democracy assistance in Morocco was executed later than similar efforts in Egypt and at significantly different funding levels. I discuss reasons for this variation as well as how that strategy was formulated over time. This section traces the United States’ increasing support in its democracy strategy for economic reforms over political aid for democracy that would mirror the regime’s own priorities and how its conception of democracy in the country changed to support the commercial and security interests of the regime and the United States.

In this chapter, I elaborate on the conceptual and methodological framework that I use to examine the construction and practice of US democracy programming in the Middle East. I highlight limitations and weaknesses with recent approaches to studying democracy aid and show that existing research on such aid elides the contested meaning of democracy itself as well as the assumptions underlying democracy aid projects. I argue that a political economy approach to studying democracy aid takes such meaning seriously while also giving us a nuanced understanding of the motivations and intentions of donor and recipient states. I develop a political economy framework that considers how ideas, institutions, and interests can mediate and shape the form and function of democracy aid. This framework allows us to capture the complex interactions between actors engaged in such efforts in what I call the micropolitics of democracy aid.

This chapter provides a general, comprehensive introduction to the entire book. It includes an overview of the theme of the book and its scope while outlining the main questions and the methodology used. The chapter also introduces the case studies and provides a synopsis of the chapters to follow.

This chapter focuses on the city of Harish, a project that various governments have tried to develop over the last forty years. The first attempts included a kibbutz, a Community Settlement and, later, a Suburban Settlement. All were unsuccessful, mainly due to the site’s peripheral location and proximity to the West Bank and other Arab towns. By 2010, the huge demand for new dwelling units, the construction of the Trans-Israel Highway and the recently erected West Bank Separation Barrier all contributed to turning Harish into an attractive piece of real estate. This enabled the Israeli government to designate it as a city with a target population of 60,000. Focusing on the case of Harish, this chapter illustrates the financialization of the national settlement project, explaining how the state apparatus was used to create a real-estate market in a given area to supply the dwelling units that were needed while expanding the national territorial project. Analyzing the urban layout and the housing units in Harish, as well as the everyday life of the families in it, this chapter explains how this future city embodies the privatization of the national settlement project.

The final chapter discusses the main findings of the previous chapters. It draws a continuous line between the different phenomena presented in the book and explains how they constitute a gradual process of privatization. It summarizes the different national and private interests in the development of the area along the Trans-Israel Highway and explains how this influence was manifested in the local built environment and in residents’ everyday lives. Using the case studies presented in the book, the chapter concludes by presenting a new theoretical framework that explains the relations between the state, the market. and the individual, and how these shape the built environment and the everyday lives of those living in it.

This chapter provides a historical and theoretical background to the development of the settlements along the Trans-Israel Highway. It explains the geopolitical role of settlements in Israel/Palestine and how their production has transformed during the last century. It then presents key theories on the welfare nation-state and the global turn toward neoliberalism and the market economy, while explaining the Israeli version of the phenomenon. Illustrating the entangled relations between nationalism, territoriality, and privatization, the chapter presents the complexity of the subject and explains the entangled relations between nationalism, territoriality, and privatization. Offering a general view of the development of the different settlement phenomena along the Green Line and the Trans-Israel Highway, this chapter prepares the reader for those that follow, while explaining what makes this area a privately developed national project.

The suburbanization of the 1990s illustrates the further privatization of the settlement mechanism along the Green Line. During the 1990s, the Israeli government, together with the Israel Land Administration and the Ministry of Housing and Construction initiated nine new settlements in this area. Unlike earlier examples, where the construction of new settlements was a collaboration between national institutions, settling movements, and small-scale private initiatives, the state now put the process into the hands of large-scale private developers. Thus, while the earlier planning was done for, or by, the future settlers, taking in account their desires, needs, and abilities, the planners now had also to consider the investment and financial interests of the various entrepreneurs. Consequently, rentability became a crucial aspect in planning and executing new settlements, eventually shaping the built environment. This chapter focuses on the “Stars” settlements – nine new sites initiated by the state in the early 1990s that demonstrate the completion of the transition to a privatized national project. Analyzing the architectural and urban characteristics of these new settlements, as well as their development mechanism, location, and intended target population, the chapter provides additional insight into the changing relationship between the state of Israel and its privatizing market.

The Suburban Settlement phenomenon is an integral part of the economic and cultural changes that Israel underwent during the 1970s, including the formation of a local upper-middle class and significant modifications in popular culture. With the liberalization and privatization processes in the Israeli economy, the existing hegemonic cultural elite was able to use its political strength and connections to preserve its status and transform its cultural capital into financial capital, eventually becoming an economic upper-middle class. This process was accompanied by a transition toward a more individualistic and consumerist culture, referred to as the bourgeoisification of Israeli society. Suburban Settlements were larger and more homogeneously planned than Community Settlements. They were usually built by well-connected developers and designated for specific families who were affiliated with leading political parties or key national establishments like the military, defense-affiliated industries and other strategic institutions. This chapter focuses on Kochav Yair, Alfei Menashe, Oranit, and Reut. Analyzing the method of their construction, as well as their urban and architectural characteristics, the chapter illustrates how changes in the settlement development mechanism led to changes in living patterns and transformed the local built environment.