Middle East Peace Agreement
Arms, Alliances, Treaties and Peace Agreements in the Middle East
Alliances plus arms are the best protection against attack. Nations cannot exist without arms because they are essential for a democratic state to gain legitimacy.
It is no surprise that President George Bush is continuing his push for peace in the Middle East. Amongst one of his top priorities is outlining a peace agreement between Israel and Palestine. In an article by the New York Times Bush advises Israel to allow Palestine to increase its security forces.
Many people wonder how you can have peace, while increasing arms. The fact of the matter is that arms are necessary for a state's own security and sense of safety. Because there is no international governance, all states are responsible for protecting themselves, and the conventional way to protect themselves is through arms. Without arms they would feel vulnerable and paranoid.
The same is true at a micro level with people. For example, if a person is living in a dangerous inner city district plagued with gang violence, they may feel safer having a gun in the house. The international arena is much like living in an inner city district, especially with the rise of terrorist groups. Nations simply don't feel protected without arms and security forces.
The main question that arises is whether anyone is really safe at all with arms. If a nation has nuclear weapons, for instance, nobody would be crazy enough to attack them, unless they attacked with nuclear weapons themselves in a preemptive strike. Theoretically, if everyone had nukes, nobody would ever use them because if one nuke was sent off, it would be answered by another, and the world would be destroyed in what is termed MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction). So while states feel they are safer with increased weapons and security forces, the world is at a point where nobody is safe whether they have arms or not. If intelligence is misinterpreted, or if counter intelligence makes a state believe a threat that isn't really there, this can lead to deadly miscommunication, causing a nation to engage in a preemptive strike on another, be it with nukes or conventional weapons.
This is why states engage in peace treaties and alliances. They simply cannot go it alone anymore. Alliances are the modern way to build security forces. Getting groups of nations together is much like getting a group of friends together when you feel threatened. The more friends you have that swear to protect you, the less likely the bully is to try to beat you up. The only problem with this is the potential for the other kids to defect, and just because they have an agreement with you, doesn't mean they can't have one with the bully as well.
Alliances are very tricky, and that is one of the main reasons why states will try to increase security by increasing arms, much like a kid might go work out or train just in case they have to face the bully alone. Therefore, most states will bulk up before they agree to a treaty or alliance, so long as they are transparent about their actions. The biggest mistake a state can make while building arms or security forces is to hide the reasons why it is doing so. Secrecy leads to paranoia, which makes other states less likely to trust, in turn leading them to join forces with another state for protection. This is exactly what is happening in the Middle East between Israel and Palestine. The U.S. is the middle-man trying to broker peace between the two historical enemies. Palestine is bulking up before it promises peace with Israel to even out the playing field. Israel simply has to accept it. As President Bush stated, "the only way for an agreement to mean anything is for the two parties to come together and make the difficult choices," and this is what they are doing.
