Middle East

Financial Express (4/27) speaks with Parag Khanna about the decline of US influence
The Boston Globe (4/27) quotes Flynt Leverett on the dangerous alliances oil producers and despots.
The Tory Conservative (4/27) features Afshin Molavi's book, Persian Pilgrimages.
MWC News (4/25) discusses prospects for a Palestinian state with Ghaith al-Omari.
The Jewish Week (4/23) asks Daniel Levy about the Presidential candidates' Middle East Policies.

In debates surrounding U.S.-Israeli relations, the role of certain pro-Israel political action committees has been heavily contested. While for some they represent the true interests of both America and Israel, New America's Daniel Levy is skeptical and instead thinks their agenda leaves both countries worse off. In an April 16th Huffington Post article, he announced J Street, a new political action committee for Americans who think to America's best interests are served by a just, negotiated two-state solution and an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

On the five year anniversary of the latest war in Iraq, Juan Cole and Steve Clemons debate and discuss the status quo and future of this strategic region. Check it out below. From Bloggingheads.tv:

Condoleezza Rice's 13th trip to the Middle East is over and the situation is not getting better. Without a significant strategic shift, the Annapolis Process will die a slow death. New America's Daniel Levy, writing in The Guardian, argues that there is still time to salvage this initiative, but only if the United States changes tack or the Quartet and Arab states get off the sidelines.

President Bush's final State of the Union address was his least interesting -- largely because it also his least partisan one.

So says Steven Clemons, Director of the American Strategy Program, in this morning-after assessment of Bush's performance, positioning and policy proposals: