There are several notorious places in the world where heavy forces grind against each other, causing repercussions over a wide area.  No, I'm not talking about earthquakes brought about by tectonic plate activity; I'm talking about the lines that people cross to damage neighbouring persons or property claiming: 'It's your fault'.   

Trouble comes in two sizes: internal, such as has occurred in Northern Ireland and the Basque Region; and external, when national boundaries are violated, as happened between Iraq and Kuwait, Israel and Palestine.  And in the Balkans it is difficult to know what is domestic conflict and what is international war.

It used to be said that when trouble flared between two small countries the United Nations would step in and the trouble disappeared.  If trouble occurred between a small country and a large country the UN would step in and the small country would disappear.  And if two large nations clashed then the UN disappeared.  What, then, is an appropriate reaction of the international community?  Should outsiders stand by whilst atrocities are committed?  Should they wait to be invited?  Or does the international community owe it to humanity and global stability to intervene?

Individual nations defend their right to manage domestic affairs, and in most cases this right should be respected.  But when simple policing is not enough, and over a long period a nation uses armed forces in an attempt to control a violent majority, that right must surely be forfeit.  Peace was eventually won in Northern Ireland, but for many years the use of government troops compounded the problem.  UN peace-keepers would not have fuelled sectarian hatred in the same way.  Perhaps they might be seen as a less provocative force in the Basque region of Spain.

And when a country constantly disregards international boundaries there must be a point when it should be regarded as a rogue nation, forfeiting the right to patrol its own frontiers.  It may be debated, in the case of Israel and Palestine, which party has committed the most acts of violence, but one thing that is quite clear is that these nations seem incapable of maintaining a peaceful border.  It is time for the UN to take over that duty to give tempers chance to cool.  And then the domestic politicians must do what they have been mandated to do: provide local political solutions.

When two tectonic plates move against each other we refer to the fault without attempting to apportion blame; we just try to deal with the aftermath of the latest earthquake.  Rather than trying to establish which nation is at fault in the Middle East we should just get on and deal with the consequences.