From Conflict Management to Conflict Resolution
Foreign Affairs
November/December 2006
By Edward P. Djerejian
Article preview: first 500 of 2,189 words total.
Summary: The war in Lebanon presented a fundamental challenge for
U.S. policy in the Middle East, but also an opportunity — if
Washington can transform the fragile cease-fire into a lasting and
comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace settlement.
SPARKS AND ROOTS
The recent fighting in the Levant presents a fundamental challenge for
U.S. policy toward the Middle East — but also an opportunity to move
from conflict management to conflict resolution. The United States
should seize this moment to transform the cease-fire in the
Hezbollah-Israeli conflict into a step toward a comprehensive
Arab-Israeli peace settlement. Doing so would facilitate the
marginalization of the forces of Islamic radicalism and enhance the
prospects for regional security and political, economic, and social
progress.
The Hezbollah-Israeli confrontation has further proved what should
already have been painfully clear to all: there is no viable military
solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict. Even with its military
superiority, Israel cannot achieve security by force alone or by
unilateral withdrawal from occupied territories. Nor can Hezbollah,
Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and similar groups destroy Israel.
Peace can come only from negotiated agreements that bind both sides.
Hezbollah may have ignited the spark that set off this latest
confrontation, but it is not the root cause. The fighting was the
combined result of the unresolved Arab-Israeli conflict and the
struggle between the forces of moderation and those of extremism
within the Muslim world — two issues that are linked by the radicals’
exploitation of the Arab-Israeli conflict for their own political
ends. U.S. policy in the region should thus focus both on trying to
promote a peaceful settlement of the Arab-Israeli dispute and on
helping Muslim moderates by facilitating political and economic reform
across the Middle East.
THE NORTHERN FRONT
The crisis on the Israeli-Lebanese border this summer erupted in an
already tense environment. On June 25, Hamas kidnapped an Israeli
soldier, which reignited fighting on the Israeli-Palestinian
front. When Hezbollah captured two Israeli soldiers on July 12, it
precipitated a strong Israeli military reaction, which, by his own
admission, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah had not anticipated.
The Hezbollah-Israeli war lasted 34 days, with major Israeli
incursions into Lebanon and the firing of some 4,000 Hezbollah
rockets. The fighting resulted in major casualties (approximately 855
Lebanese and 159 Israelis killed), as well as large displacements of
people on both sides of the border. Lebanon sustained economic and
infrastructure damage estimated at $3.9 billion, and the toll on
Israel has been figured as running into the hundreds of millions.
When the hostilities began, the international community called for an
immediate cease-fire, but the Bush administration held off, calling
for a "sustainable" cease-fire instead. The Bush administration left
the strong impression that it was giving Israeli Prime Minister Ehud
Olmert’s government time to inflict serious damage on Hezbollah’s
infrastructure and personnel. Meanwhile, the administration and Israel
clearly identified Iran and Syria as the main state supporters of
Hezbollah’s actions, and the danger of a wider regional conflict was
not dismissed.
Eventually, the international community stepped in to stabilize
southern Lebanon and prevent the crisis from escalating further. The
parameters for international action had been set by UN Security
Council Resolution 1559, passed in 2004, which called for the
withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon and the disarmament of …
[rest of article not available]
Edward P. Djerejian is the founding director of the James A. Baker III
Institute for Public Policy at Rice University. He has served as
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, Ambassador
to Syria, and Ambassador to Israel.
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