ABSTRACT
The final week of August 1982 represented the peak of success of the Lebanese War and was undoubtedly one of the lowest points of Syrian policy in Lebanon and in the Arab-Israeli dispute in general. This was the week in which the Palestinians and the Syrian army were evacuated from Beirut, and at the same time, on August 23, the Israel-oriented Bashir Jemayel was elected president of Lebanon, despite the Syrians' attempts to prevent his election. The Syrian nightmare of an "Israeli order" in Lebanese internal affairs and a peace treaty between Lebanon and Israel now seemed closer than ever to realization. And, as if this were not enough, on September 1, the day when the last Palestinians left Beirut, President Reagan announced his initiative calling for "self-determination for the Palestinians on the West Bank and in Gaza in confederation with Jordan"—an initiative which Syria quickly rejected because it saw a danger that it would exclude Syrian influence and draw the Palestinians and Jordan into the Egyptian camp and into the political process.
