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So, what time period do we find ourselves? A US president, following an extended period of tacit encouragement, has at last become involved to stop an offensive by Israeli forces that has transformed large areas of a Middle Eastern city to rubble, leaving thousands dead and sparking international condemnation.

This military action has come after a series of strikes on Israel. Now, facing demands from the US administration, the Israel's leader, a conservative politician with a gift for appealing language and a deep conviction of historic Zionist mission, has consented to a truce.

Historical Parallels

The time period is not present day, but 1982. The urban center is not Gaza City, but Beirut. The president is Ronald Reagan, not the current administration.

We find significant distinctions between the situation in the Lebanese nation over four decades ago and current circumstances in Palestinian territories in the last 24 months. The October attack of last year, which caused over a thousand and involved two hundred fifty captured, shows limited similarity with the somewhat modest actions of the PLO in the time preceding military entry of the Lebanese nation.

Striking Parallels

Certain parallels are striking. Reagan finally contacted the Israeli leader, informing him that what was happening in Beirut was "a holocaust" and saying the diplomatic ties between their countries could be gravely damaged if the conflict carried on.

During that period, much as today, the conflict played out in live on millions of screens. Hundreds reporters entered Beirut to cover for the first time an Arab–Israeli war without censorship by the combatants.

Results and Outcomes

What happened after the communication from Reagan and the ceasefire in the city is instructive. The PLO, its divisions and representatives were scattered across vast distances and a multiple nations.

American leadership then withdrew international forces – a breach of the understanding with the Palestinian leader. The Lebanese president, the country's newly elected president and Israeli-supported figure, was killed by Syrian security services.

Area-wide Shifts

Similar patterns emerged across the broader area. By the conclusion of that decade, the increasingly non-religious and progressive ideas that had looked to deliver the potential of a new future in the regional countries a decade or so earlier were discredited.

The results of this were quickly apparent, almost immediately

Throughout the area, Israel and the America now encountered enemies who were much more unyielding, deadly and effective than the secular movements and independence advocates of previous times.

Global Approach

Internationally, the consequences of this were perverse. During the seventies, global observers and policymakers had tried to analyze what caused armed fundamentalism.

Afterward, in the start of the eighties, this stopped. Political leaders in the US, the Britain and elsewhere were ceased being concerned in "root causes" of violence.

Modern Parallels

Last week, reports indicate that current leadership told government representatives that the country could not confront global opinion and recognized national hopes for a sovereign entity.

This also was an repetition of historical precedent. In the aftermath of the military incursion of the neighboring country, past government told Israel that the capability of its defense establishment alone could not "achieve enduring settlement" and recognized "legitimate rights of the Arab residents."

Yet a US-led regional peace plan meant to resolve those grievances went nowhere. Abroad, Palestinian leadership observed helplessly.

Global attention in the region decreased. Israel opposed compromises. Afterward, there was the initial uprising, and the establishment of new resistance movements.

• The cycles of the past offer sobering insights for current resolution attempts
• Enduring agreements require confronting fundamental problems rather than temporary ceasefires
• Local circumstances continue to change in complicated and sometimes unexpected ways