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So, what time period are we in? The White House occupant, subsequent to lengthy of quiet support, has ultimately stepped in to end an Israeli military offensive that has reduced large areas of a city in the Middle East to rubble, leaving many thousands deceased and generating international condemnation.

This military action has been preceded by a succession of strikes on the Israeli nation. Currently, under pressure from the US administration, the prime minister of Israel, a right-leaning figure with a talent for popular speech and a strong feeling of historic Zionist mission, has consented to a halt in hostilities.

Past Echoes

The time period is not the current year, but four decades ago. The urban center is not the Gaza Strip, but the Lebanese capital. The US leader is Ronald Reagan, not today's leadership.

Exist significant distinctions between the situation in Lebanon more than four decades ago and what has happened in Palestinian territories in the recent period. The Hamas raid of recent times, which caused 1,200 and involved 250 captured, shows limited similarity with the somewhat modest activities of the Palestine Liberation Organization in the year or so preceding Israel's invasion of the Lebanese nation.

Striking Parallels

Certain parallels are striking. Reagan finally picked up the phone the Israeli leader, telling him that events in the city was "a holocaust" and indicating the diplomatic ties between their states could be seriously harmed if the violence persisted.

During that period, much as today, the fighting developed in immediate coverage on global media. Numerous correspondents flew into Beirut to cover for the premier occasion an Middle Eastern conflict without censorship by any party.

Results and Outcomes

What happened subsequent to the communication from Reagan and the truce in the city is instructive. The PLO, its divisions and leaders were dispersed across thousands of miles and a various states.

American leadership then pulled out US-led peacekeepers – a violation of the arrangement with PLO leadership. Bashir Gemayel, Lebanon's freshly appointed leader and Israeli-supported figure, was murdered by Damascus operatives.

Regional Transformation

Comparable developments occurred across the wider Middle East. By the late seventies, the predominantly worldly and progressive ideas that had looked to deliver the hope of a new future in the Arab and Islamic worlds years before were undermined.

The consequences of this were quickly apparent, almost immediately

Across the region, Israel and the United States now confronted enemies who were much more intractable, lethal and capable than the leftists and patriotic organizations of the past.

Global Approach

Internationally, the consequences of this were counterintuitive. Through the 1970s, western analysts and government representatives had attempted to comprehend what caused violent extremism.

Then, in the early 1980s, this ceased. National figures in the United States, the UK and other nations were lost interest in "fundamental sources" of conflict.

Contemporary Echoes

Last week, accounts show that current leadership told the nation's leadership that the country could not confront global opinion and recognized Palestinian aspirations for a independent nation.

This also was an parallel of historical precedent. In the aftermath of the military incursion of Lebanon, previous leadership told Israel that the capability of its military alone could not "establish permanent resolution" and accepted "justified demands of the Palestinian people."

However a American-sponsored comprehensive agreement supposed to address those concerns stalled completely. From exile, Palestinian leadership looked on powerlessly.

International interest in the Middle East waned. The nation rejected accommodations. Later, there was the initial uprising, and the establishment of further armed organizations.

• The repetitions of history offer sobering lessons for current resolution attempts
• Enduring agreements require confronting underlying issues rather than brief halts
• Area politics continue to evolve in complicated and frequently surprising ways