Diplomacy vs Military Action

Well, I think it’s time to leave the past behind and get back to some serious questions again.

I was wondering today, after having read an article in the newspaper on Syria’s withdrawel from Lebanon. The US and the EU have urged Syria to pull back it’s troops and it worked, without military intervention. Or am I being way too naïve and is Syria only doing this because they know the US can attack Syria easily from Iraq and Turkey.

How important is diplomacy today? And can there be diplomacy without the possible use of military action? Could the EU, for example, fill a role in the Israeli-Arab conflict, knowing it has no military might.

Personally I do think military forces are necessairy, but within the framework of the UN. Not that a bomb thrown from a UN-chartered B-52 would hurt less, but I still think the use of fysical force should be kept as last possibility at all times. The “possible” use may have as much influence as the use itself I guess.

This is a hypothetical question and I don’t want to argue about specific cases, however, please illustrate arguments with examples. If you want to discuss EU-US or Israel-Palestine please make your own thread. This one is about diplomatic relations. I didn’t add a pole because that would be redic. I guess.