Word: flare
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...bleak as it now looks, it's not entirely out of the question. The chances are greater in Lebanon, where there are actors with a clear interest in taming Hizballah. As in past flare-ups on the border, coming to terms will almost surely require a third-party interlocutor. "It could be the Red Cross or the Germans, the French, maybe a special adviser to Kofi Annan," says an Israeli intelligence official...
...flare-up in violence across Israel's border with Lebanon is a graphic reminder that none of the Middle East's individual conflicts can be isolated from the region's other flashpoints, making episodes like this one much more difficult to manage, let alone resolve. And at a moment where much of the region's traditional architecture of power - from Iraq through Lebanon to the Palestinian territories - has been demolished or critically weakened but not necessarily replaced, the challenge of containing a crisis in the region is even more daunting...
...decade ago, for example, the U.S. together with France was able to act as an honest broker between Israel, Syria and Lebanon to put an end to a similar flare-up. But back then, Syria was in control of Lebanon and participating in U.S.-brokered peace talks with Israel over the fate of the Golan Heights; Iraq was still ruled by Saddam Hussein's tyranny, which also functioned to limit Iran's regional ambitions; and the Oslo peace process offered Israel and the Palestinians the prospect of peace. Today dialogue amongst the various parties is rare, even as the prospects...
...Lebanese guerrilla army. Syria's departure from Lebanon may have diminished some of its direct influence over Hizballah, and Damascus may have less will to restrain it while Syria remains in Washington's diplomatic doghouse. While some statements from the Bush Administration appear to hold Syria accountable for the flare-up, others are less accusatory, couched more in terms of encouraging Syria to use its influence to help resolve the crisis...
...Maliki may be inclined to seek a political agreement with the parties that control those militias before sending the security forces after them. Otherwise, he could precipitate a massive flare-up of violence and even a political crisis - the prime minister's political base, after all, is a coalition dominated by parties that maintain those same militias...