ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the interaction of international and domestic factors in the making of foreign policy among the key regional actors in the Arab-Israeli conflict—Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Syria, and the Palestine Liberation Organization. The capacity to design foreign policies adequate for protecting and pursuing peaceful achievements of vital interest in contemporary dynamic environments is a critical factor in a nation's effectiveness. The idea of foreign policy capacity, though of vintage conceptually, has already been explored in some depth. The strong tendencies toward domestication of foreign policy in the Middle East mean that efforts to encourage peacemaking must use not only the usual methods of diplomacy but also approaches that bring one culture together with another. Created by the international legacy of victimization in the Middle East, the psychology of perceiving a threatened loss of national identity among Israelis and Palestinians must be accounted for in peace negotiations.
