The attack on 7th October 2023 plunged the Middle East back into violence. We have since seen missile attacks from Iran, an escalation with Hezbollah, Houthi attacks in the Red Sea, violence by Israeli settlers in the West Bank and situations continuing to cause concern in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and elsewhere. 

All this raises difficult but valid questions: Is peace lost? Who could take the initiative here? The United States? Europe? Other states in the Global South? Never has a peace initiative seemed so essential, yet so unlikely.