I don't think a week has gone by in history without some crisis developing, or some settlement reached with regards to the Middle East.

On March 12th in 1979 talks were going on in Israel between Menachem Begin and Jimmy Carter, with an emergency session being held on this day. Speculation among Middle East watchers was President Carter to spend an extra day trying to hammer something out.

And to go along with the negotiations were reports of continued violence in the West Bank, anti-Carter riots around Jerusalem and a general feeling of tension while some sort of peace process was being arrived at.

And if that weren't enough, talk on Capitol Hill centered around what was being described as a disastrous Energy policy and a looming crisis by way of Arab Oil. Only time would tell on that one.

Meanwhile, news from overseas, aside from the Peace talks, centered around continued Rhodesian attacks on rebel bases in Zimbabwe and the Women of Tehran turning out en masse to protest the latest edicts from the Ayatollah regime regarding a severe curtailing of civil rights for women and a reintroduction of the Chador as required apparel for all Iranian Women.

And when the talk wasn't focused on the potential energy crisis or the Middle East, Capitol Hill was focusing on calls for a Constitutional Amendment to the Balanced Budget, with John Stennis leading the charge. And if Jimmy Carter didn't have enough trouble, Republican Presidential hopefuls Howard Baker and Bob Dole were busy making political hay from calls for an investigation of the Carter Family Peanut business based on an FBI investigation that alleged Prodigal Brother Billy was busy cooking books at the warehouse.

And so spiraled this March 12th in 1979 as reported on CBS Radio via their 8:00 am-9:00 am (PST) network news and The World Tonight.

December of 1947 could be best described as pivotal for the future of the entire Middle East. Although at the time it's imagined few would realize the long-term effects, most notably that small patch of earth just a bit north of Egypt and just a bit south of Lebanon. The Partition of Palestine was proposed to take shape into three areas; one controlled by Arabs with a Jewish minority, one controlled by Jews with an Arab minority and one International, controlled by neutral nations under the auspices of the UN.

Sounds simple, right? No. Consider the perfect storm brewing in the entire region. Independence granted former protectorates of the British and French, who controlled the region as a result of World War 1 (yes, World War 1). The Colony/protectorates that were also part of German takeovers in World War 2, and the burgeoning Arab Nationalism Movement, slowly gaining speed in the region. You just know something had to give sooner or later.

Here, by way of a weekly radio program called Stories Behind The Headlines is a piece that acts as a sort of education primer to the region and the Post-War climate that prevailed during these pivotal months after World War 2.

Historian Cesar Searchinger offered an analysis and background on the situation which proved to be unintentionally prophetic.

Cesar Searchinger: “It is idle now to argue about the justice of the Palestine decision, or even about the viability of the proposed Jewish state. The commanding problem today is implementation. And the stark fact is that not only the Arabs of Palestine but all of Palestine’s neighbors, the seven states of the Arab League are bitterly opposed. And so are all the Muslim countries from Turkey to Egypt and from Syria to Pakistan. We have seen only lately in India what Muslim fanaticism is capable of in the way of mob violence. We have had only an inkling thus far of the strength of Arab Nationalism in the Middle East. It has made great gains since the end of the War. It has caused the British and French to move out of Syria and Lebanon. It has exacted a deadline for the British evacuation of Egypt. It has secured practically independence for Iraq and Trans-Jordan. And Saudi Arabia holds a trump card in its rich oil resources, which have become strategically very important to the United States.

Like India, the Arab countries have absorbed the Western concept of the National State. Less than a generation ago they were vassals of the Turks. Today, National Independence and consolidation of Arab power in the Middle East are twin ambitions. And Arab unity, weak until recently, has now been given a focal point; resistance to a Zionist Palestine.”

And literally within months if not weeks of the Partition taking effect, the powder keg blew. And it has continued blowing these past 60+ years.

So in case you were wondering how these things get started - they all have a history and they all start out differently.

Sort of makes you wonder what's looming in our future for Afghanistan.

Here is Story Behind The Headlines for December 6, 1947 as presented by NBC Radio.

On this particular day in December in 1947, all was not so calm and not so bright. With news of the recent partition of Palestine, rioting broke out all over the region. 5,000 Arabs ran through Jerusalem, heading to Zion Square and the Jewish Quarter, setting fires to Jewish owned businesses and putting British troops on general alert.

Meanwhile, strikes in France were crippling Paris and Communists were thought to be at the root of the unrest. It was also learned the U.S. was building facilities in the South Pacific to accommodate increased Atom Bomb testing.

The Big Four Conference was trudging along in London with the Austrian Peace Treaty still pending and the Soviets adamant about more land as part of a settlement.

Domestically, prices for meat, butter and shortening shot up and the economy was once again a matter of concern.

And a squabble broke out between iconic American painter Thomas Hart Benton and writer/editor H.L. Mencken over the value of an early painting Benton sold to Mencken, which Mencken wanted to donate to a museum for a tax write-off. Benton insisted he sold it for $15.00 and it was only worth a $.50 tax credit.

How times have changed.

All that and a lot more via the NBC News Of The World for the morning of December 2, 1947.