Political instability, wars and terrorist attacks, oil embargoes and boycotts, land disputes resulting in refugees and insecurity, competing Soviet and American interests - all of these factors created a powder keg ready to explode at any moment.

Early in his administration, President Carter met with Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and became convinced that both wanted peace. In late 1977, both had taken bold initiatives to break the cycle of violence that had dominated life in this part of the world, but hopes for peace quickly faded. In July 1978, President Carter decided on a new strategy: he invited Sadat and Begin to Camp David for face-to-face talks.

Twenty-five years later, the breakthrough events of those 1978 Camp David meetings still make for a compelling story.

• The Camp David Accords After Twenty-Five Years -- compiled by Martin I. Elzy