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When it comes to peace and stability in the Middle East region, it is critical that issues are perceived within their true perspectives, otherwise resolving conflicts and obtaining solutions would remain illusionary. The recent initialisation of talks and meetings in France should also be approached within this parameter.
It has been a while now that a serious and grand movement has taken place in the region, which aims to address obstacles and problems. In fact, world powers and major international players have neglected it almost completely. So much so that it seemed that by keeping away from tackling difficult issues, they would resolve automatically.
Unfortunately, the problems being faced by this region are complex, long-standing, and diverse. There is the ongoing Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the instability that Lebanon has to monitor, the dangerous developments taking place with regards to Sudan, and the threats of a nuclear Iran, to name a few. There are also a different set of problems such as a high rate of unemployment, failing economies and rising poverty, and a lack of basic education and healthcare in some areas. It would hence be quite naïve to assume that solutions would easily and readily be on offer. Verbal promises and endless meetings could eventually prove to be fruitless.
Perhaps this is the most important lesson to be learnt when a country like France enters the arena. What French President Nicolas Sarkozy is attempting to achieve through an initiative such as the Union of Mediterranean, should take all the factors involved into consideration.
But in order to make practical achievements on the ground, what the people in the region aspire for should not be neglected. Without addressing the injustices, the grievances, the aspirations, and hopes for the future, any effort to tackle the region's ailments would face a deadly failure.
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