The second underlying principle in King Fahd’s foreign policy in any conflict is that peace must always be the goal – but that the only way to achieve lasting peace is through justice. In any negotiation, there must be compromise if there is to be any chance of success and in the world of realpolitik perfect justice is generally unobtainable but compromise must stop short of concessions which are profoundly unjust to one or other party in the dispute. This principle of foreign policy is most clearly apparent in the Kingdom’s stance on the Palestinian–Israeli conflict which has occupied much of King Fahd’s diplomatic energies for the last two decades.

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