ABSTRACT
Since the Madrid conference of 1991, a transatlantic debate has evolved around the question of what role the European Union and its member states should play in the Middle East, particularly with regard to the Arab-Israeli peace process. Since the beginning of the recent phase of the Arab-Israeli peace process, i.e., the Madrid conference of 1991, a transatlantic debate has been going on about how the Europeans could, and should, contribute to peace making in the Middle East. Europe and the United States have indeed different approaches to the Middle East and to the peace process. This is not so much a result of different, let alone, contradictory interests but rather of different priorities, and it is also a matter of geography and interdependencies, as well as polity structures and respective capabilities. Different leanings do not necessarily form an obstacle to transatlantic consultation or even co-operation on Middle Eastern issues.
