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The cessation of armed conflict in the Persian Gulf War did not signify an end to the differences among the US, Israel and Iraq. The Palestinian issue, which was a crucial element to the hostilities, was overshadowed by the celebration of US strategic and logistic superiority. The US involvement in the conflict was precipitated by strategic and economic considerations, rather than principles. If it had been otherwise, efforts would be exerted to restore the rights of the Palestinians and effect regional reconciliation.

Partial solutions can present way stations en route to complete resolution of regional conflicts, or they can actually hinder those resolutions by providing comfortable resting places with no incentives to move on. The step-by-step peace process in the Middle East took account of local and global realities, but it left the conflict stuck in its progress after the Camp David Accords and the Egyptian-Israeli Peace Treaty. Saddam Hussein erred in seeing in the end of the Cold War an opportunity to carry out aggression with impunity, but there will be other Saddam Husseins as long as a general settlement is not produced in the region. What is needed is joint U.S.-Soviet action and a balanced formula that provides for the return of a few Palestinians to Israel in exchange for the maintenance of some Israeli settlements on the West Bank, sealed by an international conference.

This article integrates the context and process of mediation in an exploration of the ways in which third parties may alter the parameters of a dispute in order to manage conflict. It does so through a focus on the role that mediation may play in fostering new norms of conflict management. Adopting an evolutionary approach to the development of norms in conflict systems, the study examines the strategies that may be employed by mediators to bring abount normative change. A case study of the mediation activities of US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger in the Middle East during the period 1973-76 confirms that Kissinger's mediation effort did foster conditions necessary for the creation of new norms. The case als confirms the presence of a number of discrete elements associated with the development of a new normative order to restrain conflict. These findings are important insofar as they suggest that Kissinger's contribution to the Arab-Israeli peace process was more than a short-term, tactical success. Indeed, the analysis suggests that mediation may accomplish more than a reordering of the preference structure of disputants. It may well promote and embed within a conflict system new kinds of behavior that are not realized for a number of years but whose importance and potential extend well beyond the more limited success of the moment. This suggests, in turn, that we may have to reconceptualize our criteria for what constitutes success in international mediation and pay greater attention to the ways in which mediation can foster change in regional conflict systems.

The US-sponsored Middle East peace conference held Madrid, Spain, was made possible by the changing geopolitical climate in the Middle East. The convening of the conference on Oct 30, 1991, established direct Arab-Israeli negotiations. It is also expected to lessen the possibility of another Middle East war and to firm up the dominant position of the US in dealing with Middle East affairs.

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US Sec of State James A. Baker's recent trip to the Middle East was aimed at promoting the peace process in the region. Baker's itinerary took him to Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia. Talks were held with top officials of these countries. Baker also met with representatives of the the Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied territories and successfully arrange a new set of talks between Israeli and Arab leaders. The new set of talks is expected to focus on the right of Palestinians to limited self-rule in the occupied territories.