Fascinating stuff. A few observations...France is quite correct not to trust America. Mind you, the French are not trustworthy either! :-)
I always admired Tito for his independent stand. He was a tough customer. It's a pity that recent intrigues have torn apart the country which he managed to keep united for some considerable time.
It is not surprising that the Arab world reacted to the sudden creation of Israel in their midst by deciding that it had to be eradicated totally. How would any part of the world react to the abrupt arrival of a distinctly different cultural group from many places far afield, the carving out of an area of land for that group by terrorism and warfare at the expense of the local people, and the maintenance of that group as a new military and political power in the region??? The same way the Arabs did, that's how. Think about it if it happened on your land, for heaven's sake...
It is equally unsurprising that the Israelis felt justified in what they did, and fought like hell to survive and defend Israel. That's the way most people are...entirely self-interested.
Each side was seeing it strictly from their own point of view.
These problems all arise because the human race has not yet matured enough to see itself as one cooperative family, rather than as competing groups. Little children don't worry about the artificial divisions of humanity (toddlers don't, I mean), but their parents make sure to "educate" them as soon as possible by passing on hatred, suspicion and prejudice. By the time they're 7-10 years old, the damage has been done.
This could change as time goes by, and given other social advances that have occurred over the last few thousand years, I believe it will...a bit at a time. I am not one of those pessimists who flings his hands in the air and says: "It's always been this way and it always will be."
The visionary stories in science fiction about a united society on this planet are not just visions, they are a perception of what must finally occur as humanity matures.
- LH