The Israeli-Palestinian Road Map for Peace : A Critical Analysis

This analysis examines the failure of the international community's most ambitious effort to date to resolve the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict by establishing an independent Palestinian state and securing a final, comprehensive, and lasting Middle East peace.

The Israeli-Palestinian Road Map For Peace: A Critical Analysis examines the failure of the international community''s most ambitious effort to date to resolve the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict by establishing an independent Palestinian state and securing a final, comprehensive, and lasting Middle East peace. While reflecting an emerging consensus among the U.S., the European Union, Russia, and the United Nations that the Israeli-Palestinian impasse demanded immediate attention, the Road Map nonetheless was unable to overcome the "Quartet" members'' significant and longstanding differences. The inability of Israel, the Palestinian Authority, and the U.S. to exploit opportunities afforded by terrorism''s "pendular dynamic" further compromised prospects for success. The Road Map''s failure highlights the need for policymakers to develop those conceptual skills and perceptual sensitivities requisite for resolving the growing number of ostensibly intractable transnational conflicts confronting the international community in the 21st century.