ABSTRACT
This chapter illustrates the United States (US) influence as an external actor on the European Union (EU)'s policy towards Hamas. Along with cultural correlations, interdependently constructed economic interests are an area of strength that has brought the EU and the US together. Since it was labelled as a terrorist organization by the EU in 2003 and subsequently its democratically elected government was boycotted after 2006 due to the EU's previous decision, Hamas has become a victim of the dysfunctional relationship between the EU and the US. The events of 9/11 and their global repercussions have been translated into a stronger US–EU partnership over security issues and terrorism, and further underpinned the functionality of these powers in the world and particularly against Hamas in Palestine. The US institutionalized the international efforts exerted in the Arab–Israeli conflict by forming the Middle East Quartet in April 2002.
