Palestine

Today the New America Foundation is honored to be hosting former Egyptian First Lady, Jehan Sadat. Dr. Sadat, who spends half her year as a scholar in residence at the University of Maryland, will be discussing the ideas she outlines in her latest book, My Hope for Peace.

This post was authored by Joshua Meah, a research intern for The American Strategy Program

Late into the night of Friday October 3, 2008, in an effort to settle a dispute over whether Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has the power to extend his tenure as President and move elections for the next president of the Palestinian Authority until 2010, there was a meeting of high-level Palestinian officials, including Hamas' Nasser Eddin al-Shaer, the previous deputy prime minister of the PA and President Abbas himself, in Ramallah.

The Economist (07/17) quotes Peter Bergen on Al Qaeda's self destructive tendencies.
iStock Analyst (07/17) features Steve Clemons arguing against claims of success in Iraq.
The New York Observer (07/17) reviews Michael Cohen's new book, Live from the Campaign Trail.
The Moderate Voice (07/16) cites Daniel Levy on evolving aspects of the Israeli Palestinian divide.
The Newshour with Jim Lehrer (07/16) interviews Daniel Levy on Israel's controversial trade with Hamas.
Financial Times (07/16) quotes Steve Clemons on the Cheney's loss of influence in the Bush Administration.
Policy Innovations (07/14) features Flynt Leverett discussing the rise of China on global business and security.

If you just read the wires coming out of the Holy Land, the Israeli-Palestinian situation is a confused mess. Israel is negotiating with Syria, Hamas, and the PLO; Olmert is one step ahead of an indictment, and more and more Israeli politicians are calling for a military strike on Iran.

What have been lost within the noise of the 24-hour news cycle are the larger strategic issues confronting the United States in our inconstant role as mediator: how do the various Palestinian factions come together as an acceptable, effective partner in negotiations? Are Israelis finally ready to come to terms with the land-for-peace equation? Can a new U.S. president focus enough energy on Israel-Palestine when Iraq and Iran loom so large?

America does not have unlimited time to get a deal. The developments of the past couple weeks-including the revelations of indirect talks between Syria and Israel, and the recent, albeit failing, cease-fire between Israel and Hamas-provide further evidence of America's diminished capacity to influence events in the region.

We all know there have been many missed opportunities for peace in the Middle East, but 21 over the past eight years? Michael Shtender-Auerbach made this useful compilation of all the efforts that went no where over the last two terms.

Bush's Bluffing Has Made Mideast Peace a Bad Bet
The Jewish Daily Forward
By Michael Shtender-Auerbach
June 12, 2008

From Taba to Tony, from the Rose Garden to Riyadh, from Geneva to Gaza - in the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, no American president has been presented with more opportunities for reaching a true and lasting peace than George W. Bush. But with just a half a year to go before he leaves the White House and little indication of a breakthrough, it is all but certain that Bush will leave behind a conflict more intractable than ever, not to mention a situation in Gaza that ranks as the world's third-largest humanitarian crisis after Somalia and Darfur.

The Santiago Times (05/22) quotes Parag Khanna on America's declining global power.
International Press Service (05/21) cites Daniel Levy's analysis of the Middle East peace process.
Yahoo News (05/19) quotes Steve Clemons on McCain's strategy to discredit Obama.
The Washington Post (05/18) features Parag Khanna discussing The Post-American World, by Fareed Zakaria.
Arab American News (05/16) quotes Daniel Levy on the need for Israeli withdrawal from Palestinian territories.

The Associated Press (05/ 13) quotes Daniel Levy on the state of the Middle East peace process.
Foreign Policy in Focus (05/12) cites William Hartung on lessons learned in the Iraq War.
The New York Observer (05/12) mentions Parag Khanna in a discussion of the state of US hegemony.
World Politics Review (05/12) cites Flynt Leverett on China-US tensions.
US News (05/09) quotes Steve Clemons on Hillary Clinton's fading political future.

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.

The greater Middle East contains only six percent of the world's population but can keep the United States distracted from the bigger strategic issues: making globalization, the rise of Asia, and the American economy stable and sustainable, for instance. Writing in the American Prospect, Daniel Levy lays out a regional to-do list for the next president of the United States.

By Daniel Levy, New America Foundation

The American Prospect | April 2008

Listen carefully when a new president is inaugurated next January for the sigh of relief coming from most of those Middle Easterners whom President Bush embraced as allies. Conversely, Bush’s rivals in the region are likely to tune in to the occasion in a disgruntled mood. For them the Bush years have been good for business. The menu of grievances on which they’ve fed has become a veritable feast. Opposition to American designs in the region -- deployed with different emphases and with different goals by al-Qaeda, Iran, Hamas, Syria, and Hezbollah, to name but a few -- has been an easy sell and has won countless new adherents.