I couldn't agree more. You've pretty much stated the policy that I believe in as an individual. Jordan did it, to an extent, and I tend to favor what I've been calling the "Jordanian path to peace". Ignore the rest of the arab world, make peace, even if it's a cold peace to start with and go from there. Unfortunately for the both of us, Lebanon is run by a bunch of corrupt idiots (some more than others) who's loyalties often lie anywhere but towards the Lebanese nation. I've been very critical of the way Lebanese politicians have continued to either push foreign agendas (Hezbollah, pro-Syrian camp) or simply allow themselves to continue living in the past, by repeating dumb slogans that most of the world has long grown past (Arab nationalism, palestinian cause, etc.) I've been clamoring for someone to come out with a "Lebanese cause"...Putting our own house in order, so to speak. And I currently hold a tiny little nugget of hope that our leaders, specially the newer generation, will get on board that bandwagon eventually. But I certainly don't see it happening overnight. In their defense (i do try to put myself in their shoes, sometimes), Lebanon is a tiny country, with not much natural resources and it's very much at the mercy of its neighbours (geographically speaking). Lebanon is dependent on foreign aid, investment and capital, to function. So I do realize that we can't really go around alienating the rich arab states (on which our economy relies in large part) and that we have to deal with Syria very carefully, because, well, no matter how badly they treat us, we still have to ship our goods through there, get a lot of our power through there, and so on (to cite a simple example).