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Examines the harmful effects of global poverty on peace, seen as driven by the continuation of Cold War economic trends & policies. These trends include growing debt, a polarization in wealth driven by multinational companies, a rise in "capability poverty" (poor overall well-being beyond income) & a higher work burden for women. It is argued that the effects of poverty have led to social chaos & ultimately ruin; eg, debt has led to Yugoslavian ethnic animosities, cocaine production in Peru, & genocide in Rwanda-Burundi. Further, UN efforts to intervene in these situations are directed against the consequences, not the causes, of debt. A resumption of efforts toward full employment is called for. It is concluded that challenges to prevailing economic policies must be made, & the efforts of groups like the Real World Coalition, who meet global problems with internationally coordinated action, offer hope. T. Arnold

THIS ARTICLE SPELLS OUT SOME OF THE ANSWERS TO THE MIDDLE EAST PEACE QUESTION IN THE HOPE AND EXPECTATION THAT A LONG-AWAITED REASSESSMENT--EVEN A REVISION--OF U.S. POLICY WILL SOON TAKE PLACE. THERE IS STILL A NEED TO RESPOND TO THE QUESTION OF WHAT WENT WRONG. THE FLAWS THAT BLOCK ACHIEVING A JUST SETTLEMENT OF THE PALESTINIAN-ISRAELI CONFLICT, AND WHAT CAN BE DONE TO RESTORE CONFIDENCE IN A PEACE PROCESS, THE PURPOSE OF WHICH IS TO SECURE A DURABLE AND COMPREHENSIVE PEACE ARE EACH EXPLORED.

IN MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS 1989 WILL NOT BE LIKE 1981 FOR THE UNITED STATES AND ITS NEW PRESIDENT. THE U.S. WILL NOT HAVE THE RELATIVE LUXURY OF ABSTAINING FROM ARAB - ISRAELI PEACEMAKING THAT THE OUTGOING ADMINISTRATION HAD EIGHT YEARS AGO. AMERICA'S INFLUENCE IN ARAB - ISRAELI DIPLOMACY MUST NOT BE UNDERESTIMATED. FIVE INITIAL STEPS SHOULD BE ADOPTED AS GENERAL PRINCIPLES: THE U.S. PRESIDENT MUST DEVELOP A SECURE POLITICAL BASE AT HOME; THE U.S. MUST REITERATE THE IMPOSSIBILITY OF AN IMPOSED PEACE; THE U.S. MUST MAKE CLEAR THAT IT WILL CONTINUE HAVING THE PLEDGE IT GAVE TO ISRAEL IN SEPTEMBER 1975 CONCERNING THE ROLE OF THE PLO; ANY U.S. DIPLOMATIC EFFORT MUST BEGIN IN ISRAEL; AND, FINALLY, THE U.S. MUST ESTABLISH ITS CREDIBILITY WITH MODERATE ARAB LEADERS BEGINNING IN EGYPT, JORDAN, AND SAUDI ARABIA.

Holohan reviews 'Late-Breaking Foreign Policy: The News Media's Influence on Peace Operations,' by Warren P. Strobel.

Gowing reviews 'Late-Breaking Foreign Policy: The News Media's Influence on Peace Operations' by Warren P. Strobel.

The establishment of a Palestinian state has long been a strategic objective of EU and Russian foreign policy in the Middle East. However, over a decade after the creation of the road-map, the establishment of an independent Palestinian state has still not been achieved. Palestine in EU and Russian Foreign Policy uses the school of constructivism to provide a new understanding of EU and Russian foreign policy. It explores the failure of these global actors to speed up the process of establishing a Palestinian state, despite this being a strategic objective and top priority of their involvement in the Middle East peace process. The book then analyses the role of identity and self-other perception in the making of EU and Russian foreign policy towards the Middle East peace process. It is argued that Palestinian statehood provides a telling empirical example of how, and to what extent, the search for global actorness, as a matter of international identity, informs foreign policy-making by global actors. The book then proceeds to discuss why the EU and Russia are so eager to be involved in initiating a peace settlement. Offering a new understanding of foreign policy-making by global players in Middle Eastern politics, this book will appeal to students, scholars and policymakers working in International Relations and European, Russian and Middle Eastern studies.