Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Member and Secretary of the Parliament of Lebanon, Mr. Jawad Boulos, spoke at a roundtable hosted by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and moderated by Julia Choucair, September 26, 2006.
Through the efforts of the Lebanese government and the international community, the war with Israel was brought to a negotiated end through UN Resolution 1701 that lays the foundation for lasting security and stability in and around Lebanon. 1701 provides a great opportunity to consolidate a secure, democratic and prosperous Lebanon
The war in Lebanon deeply altered the concerns of elites and citizens in Arab societies. Following three years of unprecedented political dynamism and debates regarding the prospects for democratic transformation in the Arab world, the Arab-Israeli conflict returned to the forefront, turning attention away from the question of democracy.
Carnegie's Amr Hamzawy appeared on Al Jazeera TV to talk about the current crisis in the Middle East. Hamzawy discussed prospects of a national unity government in Palestine, Iran's nuclear ambitions, French-American differences regarding the war in Lebanon, America's strategic interests in the Middle East, and the confrontation between Hizbullah and Israel.
It took a United Nations resolution to end the fighting between Israel and Hizballah, but that hasn't stopped each side from claiming victory. RFE/RL correspondent Heather Maher asked Paul Salem, director of the Middle East Center at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, to tally up the wins and losses.
Saad-Ghorayeb, a Lebanese political analyst writing from Beirut, draws on interviews she carried out with Hizbollah officials both before and after the outbreak of fighting in mid-July to provide vital insights into the causes and consequences of the war with Israel.
the Israeli military operations increased Hizbollah's in Lebanon and the region, but has been weakened through casualties and exhausted weapons stockpiles.
President Bush's view of Israel as a strategic ally and vision of a "new Middle East" has seen the escalation of the second intifada, the eclipse of Arafat's Fatah by the more radical Hamas, and a two-front war in Gaza and southern Lebanon. Bush's "new Middle East," has begun to look even less hospitable than the old.