Tuesday, January 27, 1998
Community Briefs
BRIEFS
Despite an improvement in Arab-Israeli relations during the past
three months, an index of Mideast peace indicators compiled by UCLA
researchers and other leading experts shows that 1997 was the worst
year since 1990 for Mideast peace processes.
The quarterly index, known as Peace Pulse, combines 14
indicators to rate the overall peace process on a scale of zero to
ten, where a zero represents total war and a ten represents total
peace.
The score for the peace process at the end of this past year was
a 3.5, the lowest year-end score since 1990.
Researchers attribute the recent improvement in Arab-Israeli
relations to pro-active U.S. diplomacy and mediation.
"The data show how U.S. efforts to keep the peace process alive
prevented a very dangerous situation from degenerating into serious
violence … America’s presence has done more than merely stave off
the further deterioration of that process; it has prevented it from
collapsing," said Steven Spiegel, UCLA professor and director of
the Peace Pulse Project.