When I was teaching a course on US foreign policy in the Middle East the class discussion inevitably turned to the Arab-Israeli conflict…..and as always the question would be asked….why has all tries at a peace deal failed?
In an introductory class that was a bit of a complex question to try and explain to my students the wrangling that would go on…..and on both sides….
I would explain it as simply as possible and I could see that it left many questions in the minds of the students…..that was encouraging to me because there is NO simple answer and the students would pursue the question and maybe somewhere in there someone may have a brilliant idea that would end the silliness…..
I saw this article recently and would have love to have this for my students to read and we could discuss….check it out and see what you think….
Attempts by a long line of American presidents, both Democrats and Republicans, to broker an accord between Israelis and Palestinians or promote initiatives to end the conflict have hinged more on timing than anything else.
I’ve read the article and am hard stress to find what it actually says. It sure does not answer the title question.
Exactly……there is NO good or even rational answer to the question….chuq
In my view, a better question would be “Why so many US presidents have tried to bring Middle East peace?”. Or “Have the attempts by US presidents to bring Middle East peace been contra-productive?”
Good questions…..but the one that is best is the counter-productive one…..without good people in the negotiations then nothing will be accomplished and so far none have been in good faith….chuq
What I meant was more along the lines of “American (and foreign in general) meddling in this conflict and in many others has contributed more to its prolongation than to its resolution”.
Yes its has and for decades corporations are making billions off that meddling….if it ends profits will sag and that will not happen anytime soon…chuq
Personally, I see it otherwise, but you are entitled to your opinion.
I appreciate your input and hope to see you often….chuq
No American president has ever brought Middle East peace and no American president or any Russian president or Oriental potentate or anybody else is ever going to bring peace to The Middle East because the aim of the prevailing ideology of Palestine has never been about peace and will never be about peace period!
You are right it is about land and genocide
Three thoughts occur to me… First… peace is not something that can be given, or made, or found, anywhere but inside ourselves. It MUST come from there, or, it will never reach reality…period.
Second, no deal for peace will EVER work out as planned, simply because all the parties who sit down to negotiate diplomatically are only there to pursue their own agenda. The agenda for peace is never really at the table, at all, for the participants have no clue how to either find it, or create it…. nor, in the final analysis, do they have any willingness to do so, for peace will not put any money in their pockets…
Third… why the fuck is it any of our business? We are not the moral or ethical guardians of the planet, no matter how much our overblown sense of entitlement tells us we are…. The entire scenario is simply another method to keep the flames burning….
If there is ever to be peace. it will never come from any government, for they have no interest in pursuing it as a policy….The corporate influences which control their policy making are NOT going to allow anything to affect their bottom line…. and there is no money in peace.
gigoid, the dubious
Like true democracy must come from the people….chuq