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So, which time period is this? The White House occupant, after months of tacit encouragement, has at last become involved to halt an offensive by Israeli forces that has turned extensive sections of a Middle Eastern city to debris, resulting in numerous individuals deceased and prompting global outrage.

This military action has followed a series of assaults on Israel. Presently, under pressure from the White House, the Israeli prime minister, a conservative politician with a talent for appealing language and an intense sense of historical Jewish national duty, has agreed to a ceasefire.

Historical Parallels

The era is not present day, but the early 1980s. The urban center is not Gaza City, but Beirut. The US leader is President Reagan, not today's leadership.

There are many differences between the situation in the Lebanese nation over four decades ago and recent developments in the Gaza Strip in the recent period. The militant assault of last year, which killed 1,200 and included 250 seized, differs significantly with the somewhat modest actions of the PLO in the period prior to the Israeli incursion of Lebanon.

Uncanny Similarities

Several similarities are remarkable. The US leader eventually contacted the Israeli leader, informing him that what was happening in the capital was "a disaster" and explaining the relations between their nations could be gravely damaged if the violence continued.

During that period, comparable to present circumstances, the conflict unfolded in live on televisions worldwide. Many correspondents traveled to the city to report on for the first time an regional battle without media restrictions by the combatants.

Subsequent Developments

What happened following the communication from Reagan and the truce in Lebanon is revealing. The liberation movement, its divisions and leaders were spread across thousands of miles and a various states.

Washington then removed multinational troops – a violation of the agreement with Arafat. The Lebanese president, the nation's newly elected leader and Israeli-supported figure, was killed by Syrian security services.

Middle Eastern Changes

Similar patterns emerged across the broader area. By the end of the 1970s, the increasingly non-religious and progressive ideas that had looked to deliver the potential of a different tomorrow in the Arab and Islamic worlds previously were weakened.

The outcomes of this emerged rapidly, in short order

Throughout the area, Israel and the United States now confronted enemies who were much more unyielding, dangerous and effective than the progressive groups and nationalists of previous times.

Global Approach

In the west, the outcomes of this were counterintuitive. Through the seventies, international experts and officials had sought to understand what generated militant radicalism.

Then, in the beginning of that decade, this ended. National figures in the US, the Britain and other nations were no longer interested in "fundamental sources" of conflict.

Modern Parallels

Recently, reports indicate that current leadership informed Israeli counterparts that the state could not fight all the world and acknowledged Palestinian aspirations for a independent nation.

This also was an echo of historical precedent. In the wake of the military incursion of that nation, past government told the Israeli government that the capability of its defense establishment alone could not "bring just and lasting peace" and acknowledged "proper claims of the Arab residents."

However a American-sponsored comprehensive agreement meant to answer those grievances failed to progress. From exile, national representatives watched helplessly.

International interest in the area waned. Israel rejected accommodations. Later, there was the initial uprising, and the creation of new resistance movements.

• The repetitions of previous events present serious lessons for current peace efforts
• Enduring agreements require confronting root causes rather than brief halts
• Area politics continue to change in complex and sometimes unexpected ways