The role of the British and American actors in the Middle East peace process (1967-2020)

Palestine as a geopolitically important location in the world has been focus of the Western countries since the 19th century. The rise of colonial struggles between the Great Powers in the 20th century has led them to latch onto Palestine, and develop their ambitious strategies for regional governance. The Jewish immigrations accelerated after the Balfour Declaration by Britain in 1917 and the establishment of Israel 1948 have caused endless conflict in the region. The initial focus of the study is first to gather evidence regarding the historical background of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and analyze the peace plans on Palestine-Israel conflict after the World War II. The study later evaluates the role of the British and American actors, in the Middle East peace process between 1967-2020. Third, the discussion focuses on some of the critical junctures in the peace process: UN Security Council Resolution 242 in 1967, Camp David Accords in 1978, Oslo Agreement in 1993, Camp David Summit Meeting in 2000, Taba in 2001, Geneva Accord in 2003, and lastly the Trump Peace Plan in 2020. The study focuses on the explanation and interpretation of past events based on available materials. Therefore, the analysis applies "Historical Research Method" in order to comprehend complex nuances, communities, concepts, events, and even thoughts and ideas of the past that have an impact on the present. The results of the research reveals that the development of the problem has been largely based on the way the regional and global powers have been involved in the issue. Compared to regional states, global powers, especially Britain and the USA, have been more decisive in the course of events since they had a greater impact on the past, present and future of the problem. Despite the involvement of various actors in the peace process, the solution of the Palestinian issue still remains uncertain. Britain as the root cause of the Palestinian issue due to the Balfour Declaration has been actually concerned about the protection of its regional interests rather than a sustainable peace since the beginning of the process. Similar to Britain, other Western powers such as the United States and France have failed to produce stable and consistent policies towards the peace process since they have primarily given weight to their own interests. The course of event in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict demonstrates that peace and cooperation plans have not solved the conflicts in the past, nor do they offer hope today.