| Summary/Abstract |
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict, or the Israeli-Arab conflict/the conflict in the Middle East, as it was called in official EC/EU language all the way up to the 2000s, presented what was widely perceived in Europe to be a golden opportunity for the EC to unite its foreign policy in the late 1960s and early 1970s. However, as important that goal was, many European politicians—from left to right—simultaneously saw an equally golden opportunity for the EC to contribute to help resolve the conflict. The EC/EU’s self-perceived ‘special,’ ‘moral,’ ‘unique’ and ‘distinctive’ role as a peace-builder is one of the defining features of its 50-years involvement in the conflict. Another defining feature during these five decades of EC/EU involvement in the conflict is the centrality of the conflict for instability/stability in the wider Middle East. There are many references in the Bulletin of the EC/EU describing the conflict as lying at the heart of continuing tension in the Near East or being of the utmost importance to Europe and to the whole world.
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