| ID | 075251 |
| Title Proper | Diplomatic opportunities after the Israeli-Hezbollah conflict |
| Language | ENG |
| Author | Aliboni, Roberto |
| Publication | 2006. |
| Summary / Abstract (Note) | The last article is an opinion by Roberto Aliboni on the implications of the Lebanon war in the summer of 2006. Aliboni casts the war in Lebanon within a wider Middle Eastern context, examining its relation to key crises such as the war in Iraq, the escalating Western tensions with Iran, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He argues that recent events have brought about three fundamental geopolitical changes in the region. First, the rise of Shiite forces in Iraq and Lebanon. Second, the strengthening of non-Arab states such as Iran, Turkey and Israel. And third an accompanying weakening of pro-Western Arab states. This new geopolitical setting opens up two options for a Western strategy in the region. The first would see a continuation of the current US policy of confrontation, in which the West persists in its alliance with the "losing Arab parties" and fuels further resentment against it in the region. The second option is to tackle the root causes of this resentment, supporting helping to strengthen pro-Western forces in the Middle East. This second option favoured by the author calls for a concrete and credible Western effort to promote an Israeli-Palestinian and Israeli-Arab peace process, a need made ever more pressing by the European peacekeeping mission in Lebanon. |
| `In' analytical Note | International Spectator Vol. 41, No. 4; Oct-Dec 2006: p101-107 |
| Journal Source | International Spectator Vol: 41 No 4 |
| Key Words | Israel ; Lebanon ; Hezbollah ; Conflict ; Post-Conflict Period ; Diplomacy |