zlacker

I think the allies (largely the US) were able to effect massive cultural changes in Japan and Germany after WWII from aggressive, totalitarian, racist societies committed to military victory by any means necessary to relatively peaceful, even pacifist societies only via:

1) Forcing unconditional surrender on Germany and Japan, whereby virtually every citizen of those countries was convinced that they had lost the war and that resorting to armed struggle for their goals was a complete failure for Germany and Japan, and,

2) A lengthy occupation in those countries that accomplished many things, including the "de-nazification" of educational system.

>>7402+(OP)
This only worked because enough was invested into the defeated countries for their populations to prosper. Case in point, after WW1, we got WW2.

The prospects Palestinians are faced with, as proven by the West Bank, are very bleak, making any peace very very unstable.