Research
Policy research and academic work.
Written for the people who decide, and about the people decided for. Full texts available on request where not linked.
Dissertation, University of Cambridge
Awarded a Distinction
The Reconstruction of Failure
Juxtaposing Gaza's 2014 post-war and 2025 post-genocide proposed reconstruction frameworks.
MPhil in Development Studies ยท c. 19,300 words
Distinction for the dissertation, Distinction overall, marks among the highest in the cohort
The 2014 Gaza Reconstruction Mechanism was designed to reconcile two incompatible demands: rebuilding a besieged territory while satisfying the security conditions of the party besieging it. It delivered a fraction of what it promised, and the reasons were structural rather than administrative.
This dissertation reads the reconstruction frameworks proposed after 2025 against that record. It argues that the newer plans inherit the same architecture, external control of materials, conditional financing, and Palestinian institutions treated as an implementation risk rather than a governing authority, and should therefore be expected to produce the same outcome. The failure is not a shortfall against the design. It is the design working.
It closes on the question the frameworks avoid: what it would take to do this differently, and who would have to give up control for that to happen.
Policy research and practice