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So, which time period is this? An American leader, following an extended period of implicit backing, has at last become involved to stop an offensive by Israeli forces that has transformed large areas of a city in the Middle East to ruins, leaving numerous individuals deceased and prompting international condemnation.

This military action has come after a sequence of strikes on the Israeli nation. Now, responding to pressure from American leadership, the Israel's leader, a conservative politician with an aptitude for popular speech and a strong feeling of historical Jewish national duty, has agreed to a halt in hostilities.

Historical Parallels

The year is not present day, but four decades ago. The urban center is not present-day Gaza, but Beirut, Lebanon. The US leader is Ronald Reagan, not the current administration.

We find significant distinctions between what happened in Lebanon over four decades ago and current circumstances in Gaza in the recent period. The Hamas raid of recent times, which killed 1,200 and included two hundred fifty seized, bears little comparison with the comparatively limited efforts of the Palestinian leadership in the time preceding the Israeli incursion of the Lebanese nation.

Remarkable Resemblances

Some are uncanny. The president ultimately contacted the counterpart, telling him that events in Beirut was "a disaster" and explaining the diplomatic ties between their countries could be gravely damaged if the conflict continued.

During that period, similar to current times, the war played out in immediate coverage on millions of screens. Hundreds reporters entered Beirut to report on for the premier occasion an Middle Eastern conflict without information control by the combatants.

Aftermath and Consequences

The situation following the communication from American leadership and the halt in fighting in Lebanon is instructive. The PLO, its factions and leaders were dispersed across vast distances and a multiple nations.

American leadership then pulled out US-led peacekeepers – a violation of the agreement with the Palestinian leader. Bashir Gemayel, the nation's freshly appointed head of state and Israeli-supported figure, was killed by Syrian security services.

Regional Transformation

Similar patterns emerged across the broader area. By the late seventies, the increasingly non-religious and progressive ideas that had seemed to offer the hope of a different tomorrow in the Middle Eastern nations years before were undermined.

The consequences of this were quickly apparent, almost immediately

Across the region, Israel and the United States now encountered adversaries who were significantly more intractable, lethal and effective than the progressive groups and nationalists of the past.

International Reaction

Internationally, the consequences of this were perverse. During the seventies, international experts and government representatives had sought to understand what led to militant radicalism.

Then, in the beginning of that decade, this ceased. National figures in the US, the United Kingdom and elsewhere were no longer interested in "root causes" of violence.

Contemporary Echoes

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

This too was an echo of 1982. In the wake of the armed entry of Lebanon, past government told the nation that the power of its defense establishment alone could not "bring just and lasting peace" and acknowledged "proper claims of the Arab residents."

However a internationally-backed regional peace plan supposed to address those complaints stalled completely. Overseas, political figures observed helplessly.

International interest in the area waned. Israel rejected accommodations. Later, there was the initial uprising, and the establishment of further armed organizations.

• The patterns of the past offer serious perspectives for contemporary peace efforts
• Lasting solutions require dealing with root causes rather than brief halts
• Local circumstances continue to change in complicated and sometimes unexpected ways