The bottom-up evolution of a social-humanitarian security zone as a means to reduce regional hostility: Two case studies from war zones in the Middle East

This article examines the idea of buffer zones as a vehicle for dialogue and coexistence. In particular, it raises an assumption that bottom-up developments, rather than top-down policies, are liable to turn buffer zones into bridges for coexistence between rival parties. We examine two Middle Eastern case studies: The Good Fence policy that Israel practiced in South Lebanon during the 1970s, and the Israeli Good Neighbor Administration that was in effect along the Syrian border from 2016 to 2018. These case studies reveal a peculiar model: the social-humanitarian buffer zone, which was located where combat took place, and evolved through decisions that were made by the official leadership, but were actually dictated by lowerranked social agents. We conclude that a social-humanitarian buffer zone, advancing in a bottom-up direction, has the capacity to reduce regional violence and to weaken hostility.