Hope from the Middle East: Two Promising Pacts

Hehir, J. Bryan, Commonweal

The pattern of world politics in 1993 illustrated just how violent and chaotic the post-cold war era could be. Freed of the specter of global cataclysm, nations and states, as well as tribes and clans, demonstrated that peace is not the inevitable product of the new order of world affairs. Conflicts that are local in scope, ancient in lineage, and brutal in character defied both the plans of diplomats and minimal standards of humanity. The exception to this depressing pattern has been the Middle East. In a year where Bosnia exploded, Somalia collapsed into chaos, and Haiti deteriorated to the point of civil dissolution, the Middle East produced two major events of hope.

On September 13, 1993, Israel and the Palestinian Liberation Organization signed the Declaration of Principles which established the framework for addressing the issues that have been at the heart of five wars in the region. On December 30, 1993, Israel and the Vatican signed a Fundamental Agreement which opened a new and potentially expansive agenda between two central players in the religious-political dynamic of the Middle East.

Neither event ended killing or conflict in the region; the media report …

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Publication information: Article title: Hope from the Middle East: Two Promising Pacts. Contributors: Hehir, J. Bryan - Author. Magazine title: Commonweal. Volume: 121. Issue: 4 Publication date: February 25, 1994. Page number: 8+. © 1999 Commonweal Foundation. COPYRIGHT 1994 Gale Group.

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