The greatest leaders and diplomats of the 20th Century couldn’t bring a lasting peace to the Israel-Palestine conflict, but now there’s a chance that a young video gamer with nothing else but a bag of chips, a bad case of acne and a computer mouse can now do what no man before him has achieved, and broker peace in the Middle East.

It makes sense really. I mean if you can train a virtual dog to reliably follow almost one in every ten voice commands screamed into the microphone of your DS, then this is the next obvious step.

The game first made headlines two years back. While the 2006 E3 Expo was still in full swing, across town an alternative video game developer conference was quietly going about its business. The University of Southern California Centre on Public Diplomacy organised a competition to promote cultural harmony. Developers could either modify an existing popular title, or create their own game. It was all very touchy-feely, with developers having to include messages of global peace and friendship.

Shooting blanks in the name of peace.

The game certainly doesn’t lack any back story. Before you ‘unload out’ into the single player campaign there’s about eleven hours of mission briefings and cut scenes to bring you up to speed on the history of the conflict. In short there’s more to ‘watch’ than in all the Metal Gear Solid games combined. Aspiring diplomats can download the demo here.

If this all sounds a little too challenging, then there’s always one of the other finalist entries. Hydro Hijinks, a class project from Montgomery College, is a quiz game about international water rights.

I’m thinking “Buzz, the Big and Incredibly Boring Quiz”. Is it just me or these games targeting a very niche market?

Still…I’ll be fine. For starters, I know the three states of water – tap, still and sparkling. Bring it on.

And the video games don’t stop after you enlist. The army is now using a video game program to help the soldiers better understand the strangely unfamiliar body language and gestures of the Middle East.

This presumably cuts down on the number of civilians being shot dead while making obscure gestures like raising their hands in the air. It also stops the US committing embarrassing cultural taboos such as blowing up guests attending weddings?

Sure we all thought that a lot of hand gestures and body language were universal, but the US Army sees great merit in the new program. Presumably there’s also a downside from this increased knowledge when the soldiers realise that what had seemed like an offer from the village chieftain that included a free goat and his daughters hand in marriage is in fact something else entirely.

Or when heading out on patrol they can tell just from their CO’s body language that he doesn’t expect their unit will make it safely back to barracks.

Say what?

It’s not all bad though. Soldiers can now pick a curve ball from a fast ball before it’s even thrown and the US Army is my pick to win the Armed Forces International Baseball Tournament in 2009.