BEIRUT -- Lebanons new electoral law could define the role of the countrys Christian electorate and directly impact the ongoing Sunni-Shia power struggle, experts say.

The extraordinary European Union summit that French President Nicolas Sarkozy has called for Monday looks likely to decide not simply Europes policy toward a resurgent and aggressive Russia which is talking of a new Cold War, but also the degree to which the worlds richest economy will in future seek to play a diplomatic role to match its wealth.

An Israeli-Syrian peace deal could be signed by the end of this year, but that requires U.S. Bush administration involvement that has not been forthcoming, the head of a high-profile Syrian delegation visiting Washington said last Thursday.

Syrias isolation and pariah status – at least as perceived by the Europeans and the United States – was put on hold with the invitation of President Bashar Assad to mingle with some 40 leaders of the Mediterranean basin attending the first gathering of the Union of the Mediterranean and the traditional Bastille Day festivities in Paris.