MIDDLE EAST PEACE PLAN PROPOSAL
The Middle East is both a vital region of the world, and one which three of the most significant religions of the world view as their home. It is also home to one acknowledged nuclear power (Israel), as well as to aspiring nuclear powers. In the coming century, demographic shifts in the Palestinian territories are going to present great, and ultimately grave, challenges for Israel as a "Jewish State." These challenges themselves will increase the risks of war, as well as the actual costs of war, between Israel and other parties in the area. For these as well as other reasons it is absolutely vital to US interests as well as to global security in general that peace be established and maintained in this area. The following proposal constitutes my thoughts on how this should be pursued.
The Middle East is both a vital region of the world, and one which three of the most significant religions of the world view as their home. It is also home to one acknowledged nuclear power (Israel), as well as to aspiring nuclear powers. In the coming century, demographic shifts in the Palestinian territories are going to present great, and ultimately grave, challenges for Israel as a "Jewish State." These challenges themselves will increase the risks of war, as well as the actual costs of war, between Israel and other parties in the area. For these as well as other reasons it is absolutely vital to US interests as well as to global security in general that peace be established and maintained in this area. The following proposal constitutes my thoughts on how this should be pursued.
Involved Parties
For the peace process to be taken seriously, and to therefore have any chance for success, the following parties must be involved:
a) International participants: the United Nations Organization, and NATO.
b) National participants: US, the European Union, Russia, and China (as sponsors, trade partners, and providers of various technologies to the parties in the region); and Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and the Palestinian Authority.
c) Organizations: Hamas and Hisballah, and other organizations as deemed necessary.
The international participants are needed to provide a global context (for example, by ensuring that the various negotiating parties abide by international law and custom) and to provide the maximum range of peacekeeping options and international aid options.
The non-regional national participants (US, Russia, and China) are needed to ensure that no external great power has interests or goals in conflict with the established peace terms, and that the external great powers with direct interests in the area support the peace and work together to maintain it.
The regional national powers are obviously directly involved to the point that the exclusion of any of the above mentioned powers would likely create a party or parties hostile to the peace and with motivations to undermine it by supporting extremist, factional , or terrorist organizations.
The inclusion of non-governmental organizations (NGO's) such as Hamas and Hisballah is necessary in the recognition of the fact that in the 21st century, non-statist systems are developing as powers at least as potent and influential as traditional state structures. In Lebanon, specifically, Hisballah operates as a de facto government; while Hamas has also achieved a similar status in Gaza. These organizations specifically, as well as others (Al Jazeera comes to mind), go great lengths to influence popular opinion as well as direct action. In the day of the internet, and other forms of direct connections between groups of people that go across boundaries and don't require government participation or encouragement, it is vital to US interests to acknowledge and treat with these new powers on the mapboard. A Middle East "peace" that was not sponsored by both Hamas and Hisballah, and other organizations of the Arab "street," would be no peace at all, or for long.
a) International participants: the United Nations Organization, and NATO.
b) National participants: US, the European Union, Russia, and China (as sponsors, trade partners, and providers of various technologies to the parties in the region); and Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and the Palestinian Authority.
c) Organizations: Hamas and Hisballah, and other organizations as deemed necessary.
The international participants are needed to provide a global context (for example, by ensuring that the various negotiating parties abide by international law and custom) and to provide the maximum range of peacekeeping options and international aid options.
The non-regional national participants (US, Russia, and China) are needed to ensure that no external great power has interests or goals in conflict with the established peace terms, and that the external great powers with direct interests in the area support the peace and work together to maintain it.
The regional national powers are obviously directly involved to the point that the exclusion of any of the above mentioned powers would likely create a party or parties hostile to the peace and with motivations to undermine it by supporting extremist, factional , or terrorist organizations.
The inclusion of non-governmental organizations (NGO's) such as Hamas and Hisballah is necessary in the recognition of the fact that in the 21st century, non-statist systems are developing as powers at least as potent and influential as traditional state structures. In Lebanon, specifically, Hisballah operates as a de facto government; while Hamas has also achieved a similar status in Gaza. These organizations specifically, as well as others (Al Jazeera comes to mind), go great lengths to influence popular opinion as well as direct action. In the day of the internet, and other forms of direct connections between groups of people that go across boundaries and don't require government participation or encouragement, it is vital to US interests to acknowledge and treat with these new powers on the mapboard. A Middle East "peace" that was not sponsored by both Hamas and Hisballah, and other organizations of the Arab "street," would be no peace at all, or for long.
Methodology
1) The first step will be for the US to begin organizing these various forces towards a peace process. Direct, bilateral discussions must be made with each of the parties mentioned, with the following immediate goals in mind:
a) Getting all of the parties interested in a large and cohesive peace plan that does not sacrifice any of the negotiating parties' core interests.
b) Canvassing all of the parties, to get initial talking points worked out on the issues seen by each negotiating party as vital to their interests, as well as to get initial ideas on negotiating room (potential compromises the various parties would be interested in making in order to protect their core interests).
c) Agreeing on specific formats and schedules for initial talks.
2) Once these goals are met, and multilateral talks can begin, the participants should create Working Groups, each of which will be a smaller group of participants working on specific issues that are of direct interest to them but are of less direct interest to parties not in that group. Working Groups can be created, disbanded, coalesced, or broken into smaller groups as needed to settle specific issues and ensure all parties that their interests are being served by the peace process; but four general Working Groups can begin the discussions, organized by their status with respect to the region:
a) International and Non-national Group: UN, NATO, Hamas, Hisballah.
b) External Great Powers Group: US, the European Union, Russia, and China.
c) Central Conflictual Powers Group: Israel, Syria, Lebanon, and the Palestinian Authority.
d) Regional Powers Group: Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Iran.
These groups should begin by identifying key issues, and core interests. Key issues will become the final talking points for the treaty negotiations, and core interests will serve as the minimal results for each party, which the peace process and treaty terms will serve to protect.
Once Working Groups are developed and begin talks (including the creation of new, and more specific Working Groups to discuss specific issues), talks should begin at several different levels simultaneously, and include the following direct-negotiations formats by statespersons and representatives of mutual responsibilities from all parties of the Working Groups:
a) Heads of state and/or government
b) Ministers of foreign affairs, and/or principal ambassadors
c) Ministers of defense, and/or national security policy-makers
d) Legislative representatives
e) Human rights representatives
In the process of conducting these negotiations, it is vital that the United States not be overly sympathetic to Israeli needs at the expense of the other parties. The other parties are more likely to come to the table and talk, and stay at the table to work, if the United States can assure them that we are concerned just as much with their interests as with the Israelis'.
a) Getting all of the parties interested in a large and cohesive peace plan that does not sacrifice any of the negotiating parties' core interests.
b) Canvassing all of the parties, to get initial talking points worked out on the issues seen by each negotiating party as vital to their interests, as well as to get initial ideas on negotiating room (potential compromises the various parties would be interested in making in order to protect their core interests).
c) Agreeing on specific formats and schedules for initial talks.
2) Once these goals are met, and multilateral talks can begin, the participants should create Working Groups, each of which will be a smaller group of participants working on specific issues that are of direct interest to them but are of less direct interest to parties not in that group. Working Groups can be created, disbanded, coalesced, or broken into smaller groups as needed to settle specific issues and ensure all parties that their interests are being served by the peace process; but four general Working Groups can begin the discussions, organized by their status with respect to the region:
a) International and Non-national Group: UN, NATO, Hamas, Hisballah.
b) External Great Powers Group: US, the European Union, Russia, and China.
c) Central Conflictual Powers Group: Israel, Syria, Lebanon, and the Palestinian Authority.
d) Regional Powers Group: Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Iran.
These groups should begin by identifying key issues, and core interests. Key issues will become the final talking points for the treaty negotiations, and core interests will serve as the minimal results for each party, which the peace process and treaty terms will serve to protect.
Once Working Groups are developed and begin talks (including the creation of new, and more specific Working Groups to discuss specific issues), talks should begin at several different levels simultaneously, and include the following direct-negotiations formats by statespersons and representatives of mutual responsibilities from all parties of the Working Groups:
a) Heads of state and/or government
b) Ministers of foreign affairs, and/or principal ambassadors
c) Ministers of defense, and/or national security policy-makers
d) Legislative representatives
e) Human rights representatives
In the process of conducting these negotiations, it is vital that the United States not be overly sympathetic to Israeli needs at the expense of the other parties. The other parties are more likely to come to the table and talk, and stay at the table to work, if the United States can assure them that we are concerned just as much with their interests as with the Israelis'.
Ultimate Solutions
The following represents a basic outline of objectives for the peace process, to be enshrined by formal agreements between the various negotiating parties:
1) Israel must withdraw entirely from the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. These territories must be legitimized as a Palestinian state, with their own government, military, security and intelligence, foreign ministry, and civil bureaucracy.
2) All parties involved in the negotiation process must ultimately proclaim the mutual legitimacy of both the state of Israel and the state of Palestine. Both Israeli and Palestinian territorial integrity are each to be guaranteed by one or more friendly, negotiating parties capable of offering direct, military intervention.
3) Israel and Palestine must agree on limited and specific terms of right of return. The negotiation process should also discuss and establish the right of Jewish fundamentalists settling in the West Bank to remain there under Palestinian citizenship if they so choose (and the Israeli renunciation of all rights of governance, sovereignty, allegiance, and protection with respect to such citizens).
4) Israel and Palestine must agree on an international and protected status for all existing religious sites in the city of Jerusalem, and the right for all people of all faiths to visit these sites and practice there.
5) Egypt must secure its border with Gaza and prevent illegitimate arms trade and other smuggling across that border.
6) Israel must (either as part of the peace treaty system, or as independent government legislation, but developed in concert with the other negotiating powers) develop guarantees and rights for its non-Jewish population (and especially for Palestinians returning under agreed upon right-of-return language).
7) Israel and Syria must reach a permanent accord on the Golan Heights territories, and a final, binding peace treaty in the same vein as the treaties between Israel and Jordan and Egypt.
8) The parties of the region must work towards an agreement on the composition of power in Lebanon. Israel and Syria must include in their final treaty a section on securing their mutual relations with Lebanon in a way that ensures the Lebanese of their own security and ability to develop their own independent state and civil structures.
9) All parties must sign an accord forswearing the use or support of certain specific methods such as suicide bombing, the targeting of civilian populations, and the use of indiscriminate bombings.
10) Iran should agree to a temporary moratorium on the development of nuclear weapons and place all nuclear-related sites requested by the UN under UN inspection for the duration of the agreed moratorium. The United States, the European Union, Russia, and China must provide Iran with positive incentives for fulfilling these goals, such as protected trade status and assistance as requested in the establishment of infrastructure and social services.
11) The United States, the European Union, Russia, China, and Iran must come to an agreement on the status of Iraq and on these states' relationships with Iraq, in order to guarantee Iraq a chance for its own internal development as a state. These states must agree that all of the above parties have an interest in Iraq and a desire for involvement, and so none of these states should be excluded in Iraq should the people and government of Iraq request their presence or assistance.
1) Israel must withdraw entirely from the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. These territories must be legitimized as a Palestinian state, with their own government, military, security and intelligence, foreign ministry, and civil bureaucracy.
2) All parties involved in the negotiation process must ultimately proclaim the mutual legitimacy of both the state of Israel and the state of Palestine. Both Israeli and Palestinian territorial integrity are each to be guaranteed by one or more friendly, negotiating parties capable of offering direct, military intervention.
3) Israel and Palestine must agree on limited and specific terms of right of return. The negotiation process should also discuss and establish the right of Jewish fundamentalists settling in the West Bank to remain there under Palestinian citizenship if they so choose (and the Israeli renunciation of all rights of governance, sovereignty, allegiance, and protection with respect to such citizens).
4) Israel and Palestine must agree on an international and protected status for all existing religious sites in the city of Jerusalem, and the right for all people of all faiths to visit these sites and practice there.
5) Egypt must secure its border with Gaza and prevent illegitimate arms trade and other smuggling across that border.
6) Israel must (either as part of the peace treaty system, or as independent government legislation, but developed in concert with the other negotiating powers) develop guarantees and rights for its non-Jewish population (and especially for Palestinians returning under agreed upon right-of-return language).
7) Israel and Syria must reach a permanent accord on the Golan Heights territories, and a final, binding peace treaty in the same vein as the treaties between Israel and Jordan and Egypt.
8) The parties of the region must work towards an agreement on the composition of power in Lebanon. Israel and Syria must include in their final treaty a section on securing their mutual relations with Lebanon in a way that ensures the Lebanese of their own security and ability to develop their own independent state and civil structures.
9) All parties must sign an accord forswearing the use or support of certain specific methods such as suicide bombing, the targeting of civilian populations, and the use of indiscriminate bombings.
10) Iran should agree to a temporary moratorium on the development of nuclear weapons and place all nuclear-related sites requested by the UN under UN inspection for the duration of the agreed moratorium. The United States, the European Union, Russia, and China must provide Iran with positive incentives for fulfilling these goals, such as protected trade status and assistance as requested in the establishment of infrastructure and social services.
11) The United States, the European Union, Russia, China, and Iran must come to an agreement on the status of Iraq and on these states' relationships with Iraq, in order to guarantee Iraq a chance for its own internal development as a state. These states must agree that all of the above parties have an interest in Iraq and a desire for involvement, and so none of these states should be excluded in Iraq should the people and government of Iraq request their presence or assistance.
