Peace processes invariably fail because one or both adversaries feel that they can get what they want without much compromise. This truism has been played out innumerable times in the history of international geopolitics. The chances of a peace process to fail become even more accentuated when the adversaries have not only territorial and ideological differences, but also religious differences.
Peace process within war torn Europe after the Second World War was easy because all were Christian nations. The subsequent strife in Europe has fundamentally been between Christian and Muslim ethnicities. The European Union is essentially a Christian grouping and thus was able to fashion a union with lesser acrimony. Notice how the EU is resisting the incorporation of Turkey, an Islamic Republic into its fold.
It was much easier to negotiate arms limitations and peace treaties between the United States and the Soviet Union because the differences were ideological and the enmity was essentially between two Christian nations. The officially atheist Soviet state was primarily Russian Orthodox Church in somnolence. The Soviet empire spawned out of the Holy Roman Empire and while the Communists tried to stamp out religion, they did not succeed. Deep within, Russians remained Christians and today we find the Russian Orthodox Church extremely active in Russia. Thus religion acts as cement within the Christian world and the United States will not find it as difficult to reach accommodation with the Russian state on a number of issues.
Such a happenstance is far from certain in cases where the adversaries are divided by religion. The Israeli-Palestinian issue is one glaring example. A century of conflict (centuries if biblical claims are to be believed) has passed by between the Israelis and the Palestinians yet there seems no resolution at hand. The CNN coverage on September 2, of the latest round of peace negotiations between Israel and Palestine was telling. Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton's optimism contrasted with the tentative handshakes of both Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Abbas. In their opening remarks, both talked about compromise but held on to their core positions, hardly an auspicious start in a peace process which will require tremendous amount of compromise on both sides.
The last time a significant breakthrough was achieved between the Israelis and the Palestinians at Camp David, religion raise its ugly head which led to the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin by a fanatical Jew and not the Palestinians. Since then, the peace process has foundered not as much on territorial issues, but on religious issue of Jerusalem and of course the fact that now there are many more religiously inclined 'spoilers' such as the Hamas and the Iranian backed Hezbollah who will ensure that this round of peace process too will fail.
Peace processes between religiously different groupings have failed elsewhere too. In the case of Russia the restive regions of Chechnya and Dagestan are an example. In China, the Xinjiang province is showing every sign of erupting into violent Islamic struggle. In the Indian Subcontinent, the peace process between an Islamic Pakistan and a pluralistic India remains frozen in hostility.
Nicholas Jackson @ http://www.graffiti-usa.com