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So, which time period is this? A US president, subsequent to lengthy of tacit encouragement, has at last become involved to end an offensive by Israeli forces that has turned large areas of a Middle Eastern city to rubble, resulting in thousands killed and sparking global outrage.

The campaign has followed a series of assaults on Israel. Now, responding to pressure from the White House, the prime minister of Israel, a rightwinger with a talent for appealing language and a strong feeling of historical Jewish national duty, has approved a truce.

Past Echoes

The year is not present day, but the early 1980s. The urban center is not the Gaza Strip, but the Lebanese capital. The president is President Reagan, not today's leadership.

We find significant distinctions between the events in Lebanon over four in the past and what has happened in the Gaza Strip in the recent period. The October attack of last year, which caused 1,200 and included numerous seized, shows limited similarity with the comparatively limited activities of the Palestine Liberation Organization in the time prior to military entry of the Lebanese nation.

Striking Parallels

Certain parallels are striking. The US leader eventually contacted the prime minister, telling him that events in Beirut was "a catastrophe" and indicating the diplomatic ties between their nations could be significantly impaired if the fighting persisted.

During that period, similar to current times, the fighting played out in real time on millions of screens. Hundreds journalists entered the city to document for the first time an Arab–Israeli war without information control by the combatants.

Aftermath and Consequences

What happened subsequent to the communication from the US president and the halt in fighting in the city is educational. The Palestinian organization, its divisions and representatives were scattered across vast distances and a various states.

The US administration then pulled out multinational troops – a violation of the arrangement with PLO leadership. The Lebanese president, the nation's newly elected head of state and Israeli-supported figure, was murdered by Syrian intelligence.

Middle Eastern Changes

Similar patterns emerged across the broader area. By the conclusion of that decade, the increasingly non-religious and progressive ideas that had looked to deliver the promise of a different tomorrow in the regional countries years before were weakened.

The consequences of this were quickly apparent, very quickly

Across the region, Israel and the America now confronted adversaries who were considerably more intractable, deadly and capable than the secular movements and patriotic organizations of previous times.

International Reaction

Internationally, the outcomes of this were counterintuitive. Throughout the seventies, international experts and government representatives had attempted to comprehend what generated violent extremism.

Subsequently, in the beginning of that decade, this stopped. Political leaders in the US, the Britain and elsewhere were no longer interested in "underlying reasons" of unrest.

Modern Parallels

Last week, accounts show that today's officials told government representatives that the state could not oppose international consensus and acknowledged national hopes for a state.

Similarly was an repetition of historical precedent. In the wake of the armed entry of Lebanon, earlier administration told the nation that the strength of its defense establishment alone could not "bring enduring settlement" and recognized "justified demands of the Palestinian people."

Yet a American-sponsored comprehensive agreement meant to resolve those complaints failed to progress. Overseas, political figures observed helplessly.

Worldwide concern in the Middle East waned. The state opposed compromises. Later, there was the first intifada, and the creation of additional militant groups.

• The cycles of the past present serious perspectives for contemporary diplomatic initiatives
• Permanent settlements require confronting fundamental problems rather than temporary ceasefires
• Local circumstances continue to change in complicated and often unpredictable ways