Cancellation costs: Abbas and Palestinian democracy
By cancelling Palestine’s first elections in 15 years, President Mahmoud Abbas has relinquished Palestinian democracy and national reunification, and is setting the stage for future turmoil
Experts & Staff
Hugh Lovatt
Policy Fellow
Areas of expertise
Middle East; Israel/Palestine; Mashreq region; conflict prevention/resolution; Islamic societies; identity politics
Languages
English, Arabic, French
Biography
Hugh Lovatt is a policy fellow with the Middle East and North Africa programme at the European Council on Foreign Relations. Since joining ECFR, Lovatt has focused extensively on EU policy towards the Middle East Peace Process (MEPP), domestic Palestinian politics, and Israeli regional policy.
Lovatt co-led a 2016 track-II initiative to draft an updated set of final status parameters, and has worked to advance the concept of EU Differentiation, which was enshrined in UN Security Council Resolution 2334. Lovatt also co-developed an innovative online project mapping Palestinian politics.
His most recent publications include Rethinking Oslo: How Europe can promote peace in Israel-Palestine (July 2017) and Gaza’s fragile calm: The search for lasting stability (November 2018). He is regularly interviewed or quoted in international media, including by AFP, Reuters, Newsweek, France24, and Al Jazeera.
Prior to this, Lovatt worked as a researcher for International Crisis Group and as a Schuman Fellow in the European Parliament focusing on Middle-East policy. He also worked for Aga Khan University’s Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations as an Arabic translator.
Lovatt studied Arabic at the Institute for Arab and Islamic Studies at Exeter University as well as at the Institut Français du Proche-Orient (IFPO) in Damascus. He then went on to earn an MA in Near and Middle Eastern Studies at the London School of Oriental and African Studies, where he majored in Anthropology. Lovatt is Chairman of the Brussels-based European Middle East Project (EuMEP).
Special ECFR discussion on Palestinian politics
Discussion about the political shifts from the March Israeli elections and dynamics surrounding the upcoming Palestinian elections
Back to democracy: Europe, Hamas, and the Palestinian elections
The EU and the US have a decisive role to play in ensuring the electoral process succeeds. In doing so, they can support Palestinian political renewal and improve prospects for a sustainable peace agreement with Israel.
Engage and persuade: How the E3 should deal with Israel on Iran
In the coming weeks, the US and the E3 should make clear to Israel that reviving the original Iran nuclear deal is still the best means of addressing its immediate security concerns
The Palestinian elections: A second chance for the EU
The EU should commit to respecting the results of free and fair elections in Palestine, and to engaging with any government that emerges from them
From trade to international law: Why the EU should untangle its relationships with Morocco and Western Sahara
Europe has a legitimate interest in maintaining close relations with Morocco. But this should not come at the expense of its commitment to international law and Sahrawi rights
The end of Oslo: A new European strategy on Israel-Palestine
Instead of its rigid focus on the Oslo peace process, the EU should craft a new peacemaking paradigm based on equality and deoccupation
Guns and governance: How Europe should talk with non-state armed groups in the Middle East
European governments need a deeper engagement strategy to draw these powerful actors into inclusive political processes and power-sharing structures that can help stabilise the region
How a Biden win could transform US policy in the Middle East and North Africa
Victory for Joe Biden is likely to bring three big policy shifts in the region, opening new possibilities and challenges for Europeans
Interview with Daniel Seidemann
In this special ECFR discussion, MENA Policy Fellow Hugh Lovatt interviews Daniel Seidemann, the Founder of Terrestrial Jerusalem and an Israeli attorney that specialises in…
Publications
Back to democracy: Europe, Hamas, and the Palestinian elections
The EU and the US have a decisive role to play in ensuring the electoral process succeeds. In doing so, they can support Palestinian political renewal and improve prospects for a sustainable peace agreement with Israel.
The end of Oslo: A new European strategy on Israel-Palestine
Instead of its rigid focus on the Oslo peace process, the EU should craft a new peacemaking paradigm based on equality and deoccupation
Gaza’s fragile calm: The search for lasting stability
Introduction War threatens to engulf Gaza’s fragile calm. In each of the three recent conflicts that have shaken the Gaza Strip, fighting between Palestinian factions…
Occupation and Sovereignty: Renewing EU Policy in Israel- Palestine
How should the EU respond to the reality of the one-state reality taking hold in Israel-Palestine?
Rethinking Oslo: How Europe can promote peace in Israel-Palestine
The Oslo Accords have provided political cover for Israel’s creeping occupation and eroded the possibility of Palestinian self-determination
EU differentiation and the push for peace in Israel-Palestine
Renewed focus on differentiation one of few hopes for saving the two state solution
European Foreign Policy Scorecard 2016
The sixth ECFR Foreign Policy Scorecard highlights the EU's diminishing ability to influence its neighbours, and the neighbourhood's growing impact on the EU
EU Differentiation and Israeli settlements
The EU needs to act faster and further in ensuring that Israeli settlements in no way benefit from EU-Israel bilateral relations
Articles
Cancellation costs: Abbas and Palestinian democracy
By cancelling Palestine’s first elections in 15 years, President Mahmoud Abbas has relinquished Palestinian democracy and national reunification, and is setting the stage for future turmoil
Engage and persuade: How the E3 should deal with Israel on Iran
In the coming weeks, the US and the E3 should make clear to Israel that reviving the original Iran nuclear deal is still the best means of addressing its immediate security concerns
The Palestinian elections: A second chance for the EU
The EU should commit to respecting the results of free and fair elections in Palestine, and to engaging with any government that emerges from them
From trade to international law: Why the EU should untangle its relationships with Morocco and Western Sahara
Europe has a legitimate interest in maintaining close relations with Morocco. But this should not come at the expense of its commitment to international law and Sahrawi rights
How a Biden win could transform US policy in the Middle East and North Africa
Victory for Joe Biden is likely to bring three big policy shifts in the region, opening new possibilities and challenges for Europeans
Israel-UAE peace deal: Flipping the regional order of the Middle East
The Israel-UAE peace deal provides multiple wins for both countries, and for the US. But it could yet deepen the region’s political fault lines.
Israel’s West Bank annexation: Preparing EU policy for the day after
West Bank annexation will bring an end to the EU’s cherished two-state solution. International norms and the EU’s own laws will now need to underpin post-annexation relations with Israel.
Defeating covid-19 in Gaza: Is it enough?
Urgent intervention can mitigate the worst effects of the pandemic. But the EU should also help Gaza escape its man-made crisis.
Infected: The impact of the coronavirus on the Middle East and north Africa
The coronavirus has hit the Middle East and north Africa at a time when the region is already burdened with multiple problems, including a series…
The UN is right to track businesses in Israeli settlements
A disinformation campaign against a new UN database aims to legitimise the Israeli settler movement and those who illegally profit from it.
Specials
Guns and governance: How Europe should talk with non-state armed groups in the Middle East
European governments need a deeper engagement strategy to draw these powerful actors into inclusive political processes and power-sharing structures that can help stabilise the region
Deep sea rivals: Europe, Turkey, and new eastern Mediterranean conflict lines
The eastern Mediterranean is becoming ever more perilous as geopolitical fault lines steadily enmesh the region. These rifts emerge from the Cyprus ‘frozen conflict’, competition for valuable gas fields, and the increasingly entangled wars in Libya and Syria.
Mapping European leverage in the MENA region
Turmoil in the Middle East and north Africa directly affects Europeans. Yet their influence in the region has never been weaker. This project maps Europe’s role across the Middle East and north Africa, making the case that Europeans can do more to leverage their influence in pursuit of core interests
Differentiation Tracker
ECFR’s Differentiation Tracker provides a snapshot of third state relations with Israel – and the extent to which these contain a clearly defined territorial definition that explicitly excludes Israeli settlements constructed on occupied territory in line with UNSCR 2334
The Middle East’s new battle lines
An ECFR guide to the key disputes threatening to spark a wider Middle Eastern war
Mapping Palestinian Politics
This interactive web project charts the constellation of political players as Palestinians approach a period of political change. Over 100 pen portraits reveal new insights into the personalities and power structures that will shape the future of Palestinian politics.
Israel-Palestine Two State Stress Test
ECFR's innovative project Two State Stress Test provides a health-check on whether developments across seven different areas are serving to strain or sustain a possible two-state outcome for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
Video
Video: The Middle East’s new battlelines
ECFR’s New Battlelines Project maps Iran’s coalition of allies, regional influence and the counter-coalition that has formed to oppose them
Podcasts
Special ECFR discussion on Palestinian politics
Discussion about the political shifts from the March Israeli elections and dynamics surrounding the upcoming Palestinian elections
Interview with Daniel Seidemann
In this special ECFR discussion, MENA Policy Fellow Hugh Lovatt interviews Daniel Seidemann, the Founder of Terrestrial Jerusalem and an Israeli attorney that specialises in…
Trump’s “Deal of the Century” debunked: is there something in it for Palestine at all?
When US-President Donal Trump revealed his much-awaited plan for peace for Israel and Palestine it was set to solve one of the world's longest-running conflict
The future of Israeli-Palestinian conflict: towards annexation and illiberalism?
Podcast de notre discussion du 19 juin « The future of Israeli-Palestinian conflict: towards annexation and illiberalism? » en présence de Yehuda Shaul,…
ECFR Clips: Trump’s impact on the Middle East
Ruth Citrin speaks with Ellie Geranmayeh, Julien Barnes-Dacey and Hugh Lovatt, about the state of play in the MENA region and the considerations for Europeans…
US and Europe clash in the Middle East
Mark Leonard speaks with ECFR Policy Fellows Hugh Lovatt, Ellie Geranmayeh and Julien Barnes-Dacey about reactions to Trump’s recent recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital…
Israël-Palestine : “le manque de volonté politique menace la solution à deux Etats”
Nouveau podcast de notre série sur les présidentielles de 2017 ayant pour objectif de traiter les thèmes d'actualité et de contribuer au débat…
Mark Leonard’s World in 30 Minutes: Trump’s US: Out of the Middle East business?
ECFR’s director Mark Leonard speaks with ECFR's Middle East and North Africa Progamme Director, Ruth Citrin, and ECFR Policy Fellows, Ellie Geranmayeh and Hugh Lovatt,…
Violence and revolt in Israel/Palestine – the Palestinian perspective
Hugh Lovatt speaks to Fadi Quran, activist, senior campaigner for Avaaz, and according to the Time magazine “the new face of the Middle East”
Violence and revolt in Israel/Palestine – the Israeli perspective
ECFR's Hugh Lovatt and Mattia Toaldo speak to independent journalist and editor Noam Sheizaf, who has previously worked for a number of Israeli news…
In the media
Hugh Lovatt is quoted by La Croix on the delay of Palestinian elections.
Le Point quotes Hugh Lovatt on the delay of the Palestinian elections.
Interview with Hugh Lovatt on the EU strategy towards Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Hugh Lovatt’s op-ed for Gazeta Wyborcza about the EU strategy towards Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Le Mappe della crisi- Interview to Hugh Lovatt on the development of a new European strategy on Israel-Palestine