The major powers led by U.S. imperialism have imposed a situation of no-war and no-peace in the Middle East. The U.S. imperialists would really like to impose an imperialist peace which favors them but success on this front has eluded them so far. While imperialist peace is the aim, the contradictions in the Middle East between the peoples of these countries and imperialism and their puppets are so sharp that violence periodically breaks out. There is now talk that Syria is testing Scud missiles and is engaged in troop movements at this time. This is being presented as a move towards war on the part of the Syrians. The Israeli government, on its part, has also tested various weapons, especially missiles, for the purpose of intercepting enemy missiles. At the same time, the Israeli government arrogantly declares that it will welcome discussions with Syria without pre-conditions, which means that it will dictate to Syria the conditions under which the talks will proceed. Meanwhile the West Bank and Gaza remain blockaded threatening the financial collapse of the Palestinian Authority. All these developments are putting a strain on the no-war and no-peace policy that the U.S. imperialists are pushing as a prelude to imposing an imperialist peace on the region. All the developments prove that there can be no lasting peace in the region if the basic underlying causes for conflict are not sorted out. This requires that the people of the region settle their affairs amongst themselves without any foreign interference on the basis of a just solution of the problems. As long as there is the involvement of U.S. imperialism and other imperialists in the affairs of the region there will not be a just solution of the problems and there will be no genuine peace. Shawgi Tell University at Buffalo Graduate School of Education [EMAIL PROTECTED]