ABSTRACT
Beginning in 1950, one can detect a shift away from calls for conflict resolution to a more modest concern for conflict management. Our choice of 1950 is somewhat earlier than other scholars. Taking the late-1951 Paris talks (below, Chapters IX-X) as a turning-point, Nathan Pelcovits wondered why the UN 'shift[ed] its focus so early in the game - about 1952 - from securing a peace settlement to "keeping" the peace of a long armistice'. 1 But the shift was already discernible in the shadow of the PCC's mid-1950 setback at Geneva. Against the backdrop of speculation about its possible reform or dissolution, the PCC continued to function, but only with scaled-down activities in Jerusalem and New York. The UN and the Western powers became weary of promoting initiatives aimed at breaking the political deadlock, while the Arab-Israeli conflict, as an inter-Arab issue, was put onto a 'low burner'. 2
