Solutions?

On Tuesday we discussed the trouble that NGOs have in the Middle East, as a lot of them receive funding from Europe, which makes them suspect in the eyes of Middle Easterners. It made me think about how to finally escape the colonial dynamic that has haunted Europe's relationships with just about everywhere, and it's hard to reach any kind of definitive conclusion that seems even remotely feasible.

I suppose one solution might be to impose something like a lock-in. Withdraw completely from the region and let them settle their differences as best they will. Obviously this wouldn't work, since the Western world has a vested interest or two in the Middle East.

That the first thought that comes to my mind is "well, I suppose a nuclear apocalypse might solve the problem" is a testament to how hopeless it all seems. The article by Ian Lustic proposes that the most natural means of state building (war) is forgone at this point. The West has too much riding on stability in the Middle East to allow a natural formation of nation-states to take place, and even if it didn't, the presence of nuclear weapons makes the prospect of a difference-settling brawl pretty daunting.

So the question is, how can the Middle East attain a self-sustaining peace by artificial and moderated means that doesn't involve armed conflict?

I don't know.