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So, what year is this? A US president, after months of implicit backing, has at last become involved to end an offensive by Israeli forces that has turned large areas of a city in the Middle East to rubble, causing thousands dead and generating global outrage.

The campaign has come after a succession of attacks on the Israeli nation. Now, facing demands from the White House, the Israel's leader, a conservative politician with a gift for populist rhetoric and a deep conviction of historic Zionist mission, has consented to a ceasefire.

Past Echoes

The era is not present day, but four decades ago. The city is not present-day Gaza, but Beirut. The American president is the Reagan administration, not today's leadership.

We find significant distinctions between what happened in the Lebanese nation over four years past and recent developments in Gaza in the last 24 months. The militant assault of recent times, which resulted in over a thousand and saw two hundred fifty taken hostage, bears little comparison with the somewhat modest actions of the PLO in the period before military entry of the Lebanese nation.

Striking Parallels

Several similarities are remarkable. Reagan finally contacted the prime minister, informing him that the situation in Beirut was "a catastrophe" and saying the relationship between their states could be gravely damaged if the violence persisted.

In 1982, much as today, the fighting developed in real time on millions of screens. Hundreds reporters flew into the capital to report on for the premier occasion an Arab–Israeli war without media restrictions by the combatants.

Results and Outcomes

The situation subsequent to the conversation from American leadership and the halt in fighting in the city is instructive. The liberation movement, its groups and officials were dispersed across thousands of miles and a dozen countries.

The US administration then withdrew international forces – a breach of the arrangement with PLO leadership. The elected leader, Lebanon's newly elected head of state and Israeli-supported figure, was assassinated by Damascus operatives.

Area-wide Shifts

Comparable developments occurred across the wider Middle East. By the late seventies, the more secular and modern approaches that had appeared to provide the hope of a changed reality in the regional countries years before were discredited.

The consequences of this were quickly apparent, very quickly

Throughout the area, Israel and the United States now faced enemies who were considerably more unyielding, lethal and effective than the leftists and nationalists of previous times.

Western Response

In the west, the outcomes of this were unexpected. During the seventies, western analysts and policymakers had sought to understand what generated armed fundamentalism.

Then, in the early 1980s, this stopped. Government officials in the US, the Britain and additional countries were lost interest in "root causes" of conflict.

Modern Parallels

In recent days, accounts show that present administration told Israeli counterparts that Israel could not confront global opinion and acknowledged national hopes for a state.

This also was an echo of historical precedent. In the wake of the military incursion of that nation, earlier administration told the Israeli government that the strength of its military alone could not "bring permanent resolution" and acknowledged "legitimate rights of the Palestinian population."

However a internationally-backed diplomatic initiative supposed to answer those grievances stalled completely. From exile, political figures looked on powerlessly.

International interest in the area diminished. Israel rejected accommodations. Subsequently, there was the major unrest, and the establishment of additional militant groups.

• The repetitions of the past present sobering insights for contemporary diplomatic initiatives
• Permanent settlements require addressing fundamental problems rather than temporary ceasefires
• Regional dynamics continue to change in multifaceted and sometimes unexpected ways