From Marc Lynch, Foreign Policy: What role could an international military force play in securing a two-state Israeli-Palestinian peace? That’s the question addressed in "Security for Peace," released today by the Center for a New American Security after nearly a year of discussions and meetings. I wrote the final chapter for the report, which was edited by Andrew Exum and which includes four comparative case studies and a sweeping overview by Ambassador James Dobbins. The report does not advocate for an international military force to be deployed. Instead, it asks what role such a force could play in making a peace agreement succeed, should one be proposed, and the conditions under which it is most likely to be productive. It’s a pretty hot issue for CNAS to take up — and some of its conclusions will likely be controversial.

What kind of force would it be? Dobbins concludes that the most successful architecture would be "a NATO-led military component with a civilian-led parallel organization to handle political, governance and development matters. Both components would require the explicit consent of all the parties to the conflict." It would require the full buy-in of both the Israeli and Palestinian sides for the U.S. or any other government to be willing to play such a role, given the "potentially toxic political and media environment, the near constant potential for violence from spoilers, and a high risk of attacks on its members." (photo: Foreign Policy)

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