Stand-offs threaten Arab region - Palestine, Lebanon & Iraq/Afghanistan
Francis Matthe; 3/1/08
The Middle East has never needed effective political leadership more than at present. Palestine, Lebanon, and Iraq are three very troubled states which are in danger of seeing very little political progress in the coming year, and the effects of the continuing violence ripple out to all other nations in the region.All three share similar problems of poor state structures, lack of leadership and endemic violence, but each has very different local conditions which have created their bad situations. Palestine remains the key issue. The disastrous effects of 60 years of fighting the Israelis, including 40 years of occupation, means that the whole Palestinian political structure has been naturally focused on gaining political freedom, and has not been successful in managing what civil responsibilities they were able to achieve. This civil weakness of the Palestinian governments has been gleefully compounded by years of military and political actions by successive Israeli governments. The result is a broken state in which the use of political violence which has become deeply ingrained.
See: http://www.gulf-news.com/opinion/columns/region/10178934.html
The way forward for Afghanistan
Editorial; 3/1/08
Instil a sense of self-belief and confidence in the governmental machinery. The stocktaking of the violence in Afghanistan in the year gone past has not been encouraging. Analysts view it as the worst with heavy losses being recorded by Nato, the Taliban and civilians. This year’s forecast is also not optimistic, with the Taliban - despite suffering losses - regrouping and refocusing their attacks effectively on the police force and common people.
See: http://www.gulf-news.com/opinion/editorial_opinion/world/10178938.html